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REMINISCENCES 



GEORGIA 



by 



EMILY P. BURKE 



THESE I DISTINCTLY HOLD IN MEMORY STILL." 

Pollok. 






JAMES M. FITCH 

MDCCCL. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by 

EMILY P. BURKE, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Ohio. 






PREFACE. 



These letters were originally written to avoid the trouble 
of verbal replies to the individual questions of many 
who were anxious to learn more of the private, domes- 
tic arrangements and manners of the South, than are 
found in the journals of those, who in their descriptions 
of places, usually delineate their general features rather 
than particular ones. In issuing these communications 
the authoress had in special view many of her New 
England pupils, who in anticipation of being engaged in 
teaching at the South, were desirous to collect as much 
information as possible relative to those customs by which 
their future comfort and happiness might be greatly ex - 
hanced or diminished. 

I have now collected these articles which at first ap- 
peared in one of the New England journals, and in com- 
pliance with the earnest solicitations of friends and pu- 
pils at the "West, consented to republish them in the 
form of a book, which I now most cheerfully dedicate to 
that noble hearted friend, whose house has been the 
home for the homeless and the refuge cf the oppressed, 



IV PREFACE. 

who, when I was a stranger in a strange land, gave me a 
cordial welcome beneath her hospitable roof, with the 
soul reviving assurance, that I "should have a larger 
place in her heart than she could give me in her house." 
To this dear friend I would say, in view of that separa- 
tion which must ere long take place between us, 
"Farewell! If ever fondest prayer 
For others' weal avails on high, 
Mine shall not all be lost in air, 
But waft thy name beyond the sky." 

E. P. B. 



CONTENTS. 

LETTER I. 
Voyage at Sea — A Calm — Mother Carey's Chickens 
— Horses frightened, 1 

LETTER II. 
Irish People — Table Furniture — Sea Birds — Sea Mon- 
sters—Cape Hatteras— Pilot Boat— The Savannah Bar, 8 

LETTER III. 
Savannah — The Pride of India — Pulaski Monument — 
Market — A Colored Woman's Head Dress — Low 
Life in Georgia, 15 

LETTER IV. 
Habits, Pursuits, and Ignorance of the People in tha 
Northern Part of the State, 23 

LETTER V. 
Savannah — Its Churches—Destruction of the Pulaski,. 29 

LETTER VL 

Orphan Asylum — Children of Different Nations — Piety 
and Happy Death of an Orphan Girl nine years old, .36 

LETTER VII. 
Punishment of Slaves — Their Opinions — The Bar- 

raCKS, I U t I • I I • I I I I t M I I • M M I I I * I M I M • I I • I «TtO 



v'i CONTENTS. 

LETTER VIII. 
The Hospital — A Little Friendless Girl — Her Sickness 
Death, and Burial, 50 

LETTER IX. 
The Stranger's Hospital — Sickness, Death, and Burial 
of the Deserted Woman, 56 

LETTER X. 
Streets of Savannah— Bay Street— Ships in the Harbor 
—The Bluff— Resort for Men of Business— Death of 
a Cotton Merchant's Son, 63 

LETTER XL 
Browton Street and an Old, Dilapitated Building— Its 
Aged Occupant— South Broad Street— A Rural Re- 
treat — Captain Abraham's Place, 69 

LETTER XII. 
Boniventure — Thunderbolt — Extract from a Letter 
from JNfew Orleans, 76 

LETTER XIII. 
Condition of the Slaves — Two Little Girls trying to 
learn the Letters of the Alphabet — The Colored Peo- 
ple's Asylum — Dogs — The Militia of Georgia, ... .85 

LETTER XIV. 
A Journey into the Country — The Church in the 
Woods — A Dinner by the Way-side — Wells on the 
Highway — The Little Haven — Arrival at the Planta- 
tion, 95 

LETTER XV. 
A Southern Planter's House, .,,,,,,, , ,,,,,, , , ... . 103 



CONTENTS. Vii 

LETTER XVI. 
Buildings connected with a Southern Plantation — A 
Walk in the Woods — The Robin — The Preparation 
of Cotton for the Market — Women engaged in Fall- 
ing Trees and Building Fences, Ill 

LETTER XVII. 
Why the Southern Planters build no better houses — 
Hand Mills — Negro Dance — The African Slave — 
A Southern Cook, 118 

LETTER XVIII. 
Cultivation of Rice — The Sweet Potato — Nuts — Feed- 
ing of Swine — Garden Vegetables, Fruits, Flowers, 
Shrubs and Trees, 125 

LETTER XIX. 
Birds of the South — The Buzzard — Alligator — Deer 
Hunting — Fishes, 133 

LETTER XX. 
Sabbath at the South — Going to Church — Visit to a 
Cemetery — Service at Church — Refreshments — 
Stubbornness of a Mule — Pastimes of Slaves, .... 141 

LETTER XXI. 
Evils of Slavery as felt by the Master — Early Train- 
ing of Children at the South — Theft and Robbery, . 151 

IETTER XXII. 
Runaway Slaves — The Swamps — A Family in Conceal- 
ment — Murder of an Old Slave — Elopement of an 
Orphan Lady, 163 



I 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

LETTER XXIII. 
A Visit in the Country — A Southern Kitchen — Plea- 
sure Excursion — An Equestrian Scene, 175 

LETTER XXIV. 
A Plantation on the Sea Coast — Different Kinds of 
Trees — Rising of the Tide — A Storm — Return from 
a Visit, 185 

LETTER XXV. 
Schools in Georgia — Public Examination — A Barba- 
cue — Macon Female College, 195 

LETTER XXVI. 
The Sand-hillers, their Habits, Poverty and Ignorance, 205 

LETTER XXVII. 
The Residence of an Aged Matron — Affection and 
Fidelity of her Servants, 214 

LETTER XXVIII. 
A Large Plantation — Cause of an Unhealthy Atmo- 
sphere — Cattle, Swine and Sheep — Driving of Oxen 
by Southerners — Shops of various kinds — Plough- 
ing of the Land by Men and Women — Sports of 
the Slaves — A Quilting Party — Marriages and Fu- 
nerals — A Nursery for Colored Ckildren, 220 

LETTER XXIX. 
A Southern Camp-meeting — Preparations for the same 
— Removal to the Camp Ground — Scenes on the 
Camp Ground — Meeting for the Colored People, . .235 

LETTER XXX. 
Conclusion, , , 246 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 



LETTER I. 



Voyage at Sea — A Calm — Mother Carey's Chickens — Horses 
Frightened. 

In attempting to give you some account of my 
journey to Georgia, and my residence in that 
State, I can hardly expect to interest you who 
have read the journals of so many, who wield 
a much abler pen ; but if an imperfect descrip- 
tion of some of those objects and incidents 
which came under my observation after I left 
the shores of my own New England home, can 
in any wise contribute to your pleasure, I shall 
feel myself well compensated for my labor. 

It will hardly be necessary for me to give an 
account of my journey to New York, or a par- 
ticular description of my passage from thence to 
Savannah, as it did not differ essentially from 
accounts of the same kind that we see almost 

A 



> 



s 2 REMINISCENCES OP GEORGIA, 

daily in our newspapers ; therefore the inct- 
dents that I shall relate as connected with my 
passage from New York to Savannah, I intend 
shall belong to that class of events which are 
usually passed over by tourists; the same course 
also, I shall pursue in speaking of other things 
with which I was conversant while in Georgia. 

We sailed from New York on one of the 
most gloomy days of an equinoctial storm. The 
rain beat upon lis so severely while we were 
making our way to the wharves, that we found 
our umbrellas to be of little service; and by 
the time we had passed through those muddy 
streets and over the decks of three or four ves- 
sels so slippery we could hardly retain an up- 
right position, we saw after we were safely de- 
posited in our own quarters, that we had 
brought away upon our shoes and the bottom 
of our dresses not a small share of the filth and 
dirt of the city : but I endured this inconveni- 
ence much better than I should have done, if I 
had not seen, by looking around upon my com- 
panions, that all were in the same predicament ; 
and in this case, certainly, I felt that " misery 
loved company." 

On board of the vessel, I found myself one of 
a hundred human beings, that were all crowded 
together in one not very large ship, besides vari- 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. O 

ous animals, none of which appeared to be in 
the most pleasant mood. 

It was a cold day ; the wind blew ; the rain 
poured down in torrents, the horses were impa- 
tient in their stables, the pigs squealed* and the 
fowls cackled; the children cried, and the older 
passengers were cross, and the very patient cap- 
tain and sailors, arrayed in oil cloth, were doing 
their best to put to sea, and get this little world 
of uproar and confusion set in order, but I 
learned that nothing proved so effectual in calm- 
ing this fault-finding assembly, as a few heavy 
rockings of the vessel, when she had fairly got 
on her way to sea. 

It was really quite amusing to me, although 
no one on board suffered more from sea-sickness 
than myself, to see how soon we were all 
brought down to a level after our ship began to 
sail. We had on board " the high and the low, 
the rich and the poor," the haughty aristocrat 
from the South, and the shrewd merchant from 
the North ; the proud cadet in full uniform from 
West Point, and the poor emigrant from the 
East, as well as the down-trodden slave ; and 
in less than one hour after we left the harbor, 
one was no higher in the world, in one sense of 
it, than another, unless we except those who 
were prostrated in berths instead of lying upon 



4 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

the floor as the slaves were obliged to do. When 
I observed this, I could not help making this 
sage reflection, that though our stations in life 
may be one hour much elevated above that of 
our neighbors, the next we may, by some provi- 
dence unforeseen by us, be reduced to a level 
with the meanest serf. 

The first day of our voyage was so cold and 
stormy, the captain was obliged to set up a 
stove in the cabin, which was not needed, how- 
ever, after we had sailed about three days to- 
wards the South. The next day it cleared off 
pleasant, the wind went down so that there was 
scarcely a breath to fill the sails ; then followed 
what the sailors call a calm, which continued 
four or five days. 1 never experienced any thing 
more tedious aud discouraging. The motion of 
the sea caused the ship to rock just enough to 
make us suffer from that most of all unpleasant 
sensations that one feels after having been per- 
forming a series of rapid revolutions upon his 
heel ; and what made this still more dishearten- 
* ing was the consciousness that we had to suffer all 
this to no purpose ; for we were making no pro- 
gress all this time towards our much desired 
haven. 

For several days we had nothing to cheer up 
our gloomy spirits but our own wise reflections, 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. O 

for we were too sick to see and converse with 
each other, and we found our own thoughts but 
sorry comforters when rolling upon the wide 
ocean, deathly sick and far from our loved 
homes and all their comforts. During this time 
our eyes rested upon nothing beyond our own 
little floating world, save the blue arch above us 
and that same incessantly rolling ocean, be- 
neath us. 

But nothing seemed so homelike during my 
voyage as to be awakened every morning by 
the crowing of the fowls, and my first impres- 
sions were, invariably, on awaking, of being at 
home in my own chamber, and that I was 
aroused by the inhabitants of the same barn- 
yard which had in the days of my early youth 
so many times reminded me that it was morning. 

The first part of our voyage was very mo- 
notonous, owing to the dead calm I mentioned 
before. The sailors went through their regular 
routine of duties : the cook laid the table three 
times a day, whether the passengers were able 
to eat or not ; sometimes a passenger as pale as 
a corpse would crawl out of his berth to get a 
reviving breath of air upon the deck, while per- 
haps a couple more having strength enough to 
sit up an hour, would try to while away the te- 
dious time by a game at chess or back-gammon. 



6 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

But no incidents happened worthy of notice, 
till one morning we were visited by a flock of 
" Mother Carey's Chickens," a circumstance 
which created quite a sensation, not only among 
the sailors on board, but among the passengers 
also ; for it is one of the easiest things in the 
world for people, after they have been out at 
sea a few days, to imbibe more or less of that 
superstition that seems to be so natural to sail- 
ors, and they believe beyond a doubt, that the 
appearance of these birds portends a storm. I 
did hope that this old-timed omen would fail 
this time ; for I dislike to see what appears to 
be nothing but a most natural occurrence re- 
ceived as a special forewarning of some event ; 
but I was disappointed ; though at the time we 
saw the ominous birds, no one could have judged 
from any other circumstance that a storm was 
approaching. The day was unusually pleasant ; 
not a cloud flitted across the sky, and the gentle 
breezes that fanned our brows, were scarcely 
strong enough to expand the sails ; but before 
three hours had elapsed from the time we first 
saw the Stormy Petrel skimming over the face 
of the waters, the wind had arisen to a hurri- 
cane, and the blackest and the wildest clouds 
overspread the sky. I never experienced any 
thing more dreadful than the storm that ensued 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 1 

and lasted three days. We could reasonably 
look for nothing but to be swallowed up in the 
frightful abyss that yawned beneath us. The 
ship was one scene of confusion. The children 
screamed, and the older passengers were terri- 
fied. Bottles and dishes were thrown from the 
shelves, trunks and boxes of all kinds- were 
hurled from one side of the ship to the other ; 
tables, chairs and settees, broke from their fas- 
tenings, and those who were reclining upon 
them were turned over backwards, being at the 
same time too weak and feeble to help them- 
selves up again. The horses in the stables be- 
came so frightened by the violent pitching of 
the ship and the roaring of the wind among the 
ropes and shrouds, that they strove and dashed 
against the timbers, till their flesh, in many 
places, was torn from their bones. After the 
storm had abated a little, I went on deck to see 
one of these poor animals that was then almost 
dead. It was a noble creature, which a young 
man on board had purchased at the North for 
two hundred dollars, and was taking South. He 
was literally covered with blood, and to put an 
end to his sufferings as soon as possible when it 
became apparent that he could not recover from 
his bruises, he was thrown overboard. 






LETTER II. 



Irish People — Table Furniture — Sea Birds — Sea Monsters- 
Cape Hatteras — Pilot Boat — The Savannah Bar. 

There was nothing on board I commiserated so 
much as the Irish people. During the storm 
they were all shut down in the hole together, as 
many as sixty or seventy of them. As soon as 
the storm was over, the hatches were taken up, 
and these poor creatures began to crawl out, so 
sick and weak they could scarcely support their 
own weight, and for two or three days, I saw 
them lying all around on the barrels, boxes, 
timbers, and hen-coops, the most forlorn look- 
ing creatures I ever beheld. 

These wretched beings had recently emigrated 
from Ireland, landing in New York first, where 
they expected to find all the luxuries of life in 
abundance without labor; but being disappointed, 
again set sail, directing their course south, still 
hoping to find somewhere in the " new coun- 
try" those golden dreams of prosperity realized, 
for which they had abandoned their own coun- 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 9 

try and homes. Here again as every where they 
are destined to disappointment. When they have 
gone as far as the Southern States, they gener- 
ally give up the search for pleasures that are nev- 
er seen only at a distance. Many females soon 
die of hardships and broken hearts, while the men, 
to drown thoughts of disappointment in the in- 
toxicating cup, go to drinking whiskey which 
causes the climate fever to set in, from which 
they seldom recover. Thus ends every year the 
existence of thousands of these deluded beings. 
Before I went to sea, I had often wondered 
how the plates, knives and forks, and so on, 
were made to retain their places on the tables. 
In the first place, the tables are furnished with 
small strips of wood nailed on so as to form 
little squares in which are placed all the plates 
and large dishes as well as knives and forks, 
and spoons; then all such dishes as castors, 
creamers, sugar bowls, etc., are fastened to the 
table by tying strings to them, and pinning them 
by a fork. Then after all this precaution, when 
the sea is rough they are often forced from 
their places, and dashed upon the floor. Some- 
times our seats broke loose while sitting at our 
meals, and before we had time to help each 
other we would find ourselves on the opposite 
side of the cabin. 



10 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

One day during the storm a lone sea-bird came 
and rested upon one of the yards. It was prob- 
ably driven out to sea by the heavy winds, and 
had lost its reckoning. The bird had appar- 
ently been a long time on the wing not finding 
a resting place till it descried our vessel ; for it 
could hardly move its wings when it reached us, 
and I seldom ever had my feelings more wound- 
ed, than when in mere wantonness, several 
young, men seized their guns to shoot the poor 
bird, which had flown to us for refuge ; but not 
finding it a place of safety, it again exerted 
every weary muscle to hasten from the abode of 
man, from whom instinct usually teaches the 
brute creation to fly. 

Though the storm had abated, the sea con- 
tinued rough for many days ; a circumstance 
which seemed to give us an opportunity of see- 
ing some of the monsters of the deep. Perhaps 
this had nothing to do in rousing up the inhabit- 
ants of the great sea, but it appeared so to me ; 
for before the storm we saw not a fish, but after- 
wards the ocean seemed to be alive with whales, 
grampuses, porpoises, and other sea-monsters. 
For two or three days the porpoises passed our 
vessel by the thousand; they would be seen riding 
upon every wave as far as the eye could reach. 
I have stood for hours at a time leaning upon 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 11 

the gunwale, to see these fishes swim by me, 
and sometimes they came so near I could almost 
reach them with my hand. 

After the storm had passed, I learned that 
during the worst of it we were going round 
Cape Hatteras, where I had a great many times 
before heard that mariners usually found a 
stormf Whether it always storms there or 
whether it so happens that a storm always 
comes up just as a vessel is passing, is not 
known ; but the fact that it is generally squally 
when a ship is off the point, is well authenti- 
cated. I have inquired of a great many per- 
sons who have been round the cape, if this was 
true ; and in every instance they have told me 
it held true in their own as well as in all others' 
cases with which they were acquainted. 

Finally, one morning after we had all become 
heartily tired of being crowded together in one 
small unwholesome apartment, the captain in- 
formed us we could go no further without a 
pilot, consequently all eyes were in search of a 
pilot boat. Some ascended the tops of the 
highest masts, while all either on the yards or 
deck, eagerly looked for the much desired object. 
At length a little speck was descried in the far 
off distance, which in the course of an hour, to 
our great joy, proved to be a pilot boat. A 



12 REMINISCENCES OP GEORGIA. 

flag was immediately hoisted, and all necessary 
preparations made to receive a pilot on board. 
Soon the pilot boat put out a little skiff contain- 
ing a pilot with two sailors to row it, and when 
it came so near our vessel that the pilot could 
reach a rope from it, one was thrown to him, 
by means of which he ascended to the deck 
amid the loud huzzas of the passengers and 
crew. The ship waited till the captain had pre- 
pared a present for the pilot crew, then amid 
the hearty cheers of their sea-faring brethren, 
they retraced their path in the mighty deep, and 
soon disappeared from our view among the far 
off mountain waves. 

As soon as the pilot had partaken of a little 
repast, he took the command of our ship, and 
communicated to us the joyful intelligence that 
we should see the port of SaVannah by " sun- 
down." About the middle of the afternoon, we 
came in sight of the shores of South Carolina, 
which really looked so green and sunny, I could 
hardly realize it was the fall of the year, having 
left the gardens and groves of New England in 
their robes of sere and yellow leaves. As the pilot 
had promised, we came in sight of the long and 
much desired haven, just as the sun was going 
down behind the distant steeples. Here we 
anticipated some trouble in passing the bar, for 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 13 

in our last war with Great Britain, to prevent 
the ascent of the British ships up the river, our 
navy sank a row of vessels on the bar, reaching 
from one shore to the other ; so that now all her 
Majesty's ships are obliged to remain out at sea, 
and all her imports and exports are conveyed 
to and from her ships in boats. Our vessels can 
usually pass the bar, as they have lighter bot- 
toms than the British ships. We got over, 
however, without any difficulty, and while the 
gentlemen were shaving, a duty they had not 
ventured to undertake before, as they said "fear- 
ing suicide," the ladies enjoyed a portion of the 
twilight hour in watching the beautiful shores 
of the Savannah. 

Here the weeping willow bent its pliant 
branches above many a little hut, and the tall 
marsh grass grew over the water's edge. We 
ascended the river as far as we could in our ves- 
sel, it being low tide, then took boats to go into 
the city. As soon as we cast anchor, which was 
at some distance from Savannah many gentlemen 
who had an interest in our arrival came in small 
boats to meet us, and gave us a welcome which 
appeared to be gratefully received by all. They 
informed us that they had spent the greater part 
of the day on the observatory, waiting to get a 
glimpse of that well-known banner they had so 



14 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

many times seen floating from the top of our 
fine brig, that they began now to fear had been 
wrecked in the storm. As soon as we were 
ready to disembark, they accompanied us to the 
shore, where we took leave of those who had 
been companions during a long and tedious 
voyage. 

It was about half past eight when we entered 
the city, and here let me say, I never pictured to 
myself any scene described in fictitious narra- 
tive half so novel and romantic as Savannah 
appeared to me, the first evening I entered her 
streets. 



LETTER III. 

Savannah — The Pride of India — Pulaski Monument-— Mar * 
ket — A colored woman's head-dress — Low life in Georgia. 

Savannah received its name, originally, from 
its general appearance, which was justly called 
by its founders a savanna, a term that signifies 
an open, marshy plain, without timber, as its 
first settlers found it. But though it still re- 
tains its first name, with merely the addition of 
one letter, it can no longer be literally applied 
to it ; for now it looks like a city built in a for- 
est, so numerous are the shade trees in every 
part of it. Beneath these trees, the lamps are 
suspended that give light to the city in the even- 
ing. These lights, interspersed with the many 
long, black shadows, that fall every where 
around, heighten the romantic effect that the 
first sight of these streets would naturally pro- 
duce in the mind of one unaccustomed to South- 
ern scenes. 

The city is laid out in squares, each of which 
is surrounded by a beautiful growth of orna- 



16 REMINISCENES OF GEORGIA. 

mental trees. The Pride of India is the most 
common, the preference being given to these 
trees because they attain their full growth soon- 
er than any others. They become large trees 
in six or seven years, and when they arrive at 
maturity, they are as large as our oldest elms. 
For a long time in the summer season, they are 
completely covered with blossoms, in color like 
our lilac, and growing in clusters like the snow- 
ball. Then the blossoms are succeeded by a 
yellow, dry kind of fruit, about as large as our 
English cherry, which remains on the tree till 
the blossoms again appear. Trees of all kinds 
come to maturity much sooner at the South 
than they do at the North, owing to the climate, 
which allows them to grow the year round, 
while here the severity of the climate, en- 
tirely stops vegetation during the greater part 
of the year. 

Many of the squares in Savannah are left 
open for places of public resort and promenade, 
and planted with beautiful shade trees of vari- 
ous kinds. In the midst of these grounds, wells 
are dug for the accommodation of the public, 
there being but few, if any private wells and 
reservoirs of water. One of these beautiful 
sites is ornamented with a splendid monument, 
erected to the memory of General Pulaski, who 




REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 17 

lost his life near this spot in the defence of our 
country's liberties. 

As all these grounds are named from some 
particular circumstance, this is called the Mon- 
ument square ; another is called the Market 
square, because the city market stands upon it, 
and so on. On the evening of my arrival, see- 
ing none but white people in the streets, the 
fact that I was in a land where the largest pro- 
portion of its inhabitants were slaves, did not 
occur to my mind, neither was I forcibly re- 
minded of this unpleasant truth, till the follow- 
ing morning ; for all the slaves in the city are 
obliged to retire within the precincts of their 
own dwellings at eight o'clock in the evening, 
the hour when the bell rings to summon the 
city patrol to their several posts. After that 
hour, every slave who is found in the streets 
without a passport is taken up and confined in 
the guard house till he has had a trial. If then 
he can prove he had a reasonable excuse for 
being out at an unreasonable hour, he is liber- 
ated. If it is found he is a run-away slave, 
then he is advertised for a certain number of 
days, and sold at public auction, if the owner 
of the slave does not make his appearance, and 
prove property before the advertisement is out. 
A pail carried by a slave in the evening serves 



18 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

for a legal passport. The propriety of this law 
I do not understand unless it is this, that a slave, 
running away, would not be likely to encumber 
himself with so much of a burden ; and be- 
sides, the pail would naturally signify' an er- 
rand. * 

Soon after I had taken tea, I retired to* a 
chamber already prepared for my reception* 
and never was a couch more grateful to one, 
than that which rested my weary body that 
night. I never experienced any thing half so 
comfortable as to be sensible that my bed once 
more stood upon " terra firma." Words can- 
not express how sweet it was to be once more 
where the creaking of masts and the eternal 
clattering of the ropes and sails,. and the dash- 
ing of the waves against the sides of the -ship, 
could no longer reach my ears. I could not 
for some time sleep, I so much enjoyed the con- 
sciousness of being where I was not constantly 
tumbled from one side of my bed to the other, 
and where too I was not expecting to be thrown 
out of my bed if I did not exert all my strength 
in clinging to it all night. 

In the morning, no sooner had the sky began 
to look a little grey, than such a confused jar- 
gon of strange sounds broke upon my ear, that 
in a few moments I found the sweet influences 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 19 

of sleep had entirely taken their flight and gone 
so far away they could not be recalled again 
that morning; therefore I arose and threw 
aside my curtain to learn the cause that had 
deprived me of my^ morning nap, when to my 
surprise I saw a great many colored persons, 
with now and then a white man among them, 
cmd animals of various kinds, among which 
mules- were the most numerous, all of which 
were assembled together under a sort of shel- 
ter, that from the appearance of things I soon 
judged to' be the city market, a description of 
which, perhaps, will not be uninteresting to 
those who have not visited the South. It is not 
a close building, like our markets at the North, 
but merely a roof, supported by pillars. This 
roof covers quite an extent of ground, laid with 
bricks for a floor. In the middle stands a pump, 
where water i^, obtained that is used in the mar- 
ket. This building is furnished with stalls, 
owned by individuals in the city, who send pro- 
duce thef e to sell. In each of these stalls stands 
a servant woman to sell her masters property, 
who is careful to deck out his saleswoman in 
the most gaudy colors to make her as conspicu- 
ous as possible, that she may be successful in 
trade. I once heard a gentleman say, whose 
saleswoman had not been very successful, " he 



20 REMINISCENCES OP GEORGIA. 

must get her a new handkerchief for her head, 
and see if she would not sell more." Bonnets 
are not worn by the colored people at the 
South, not even to church. The fashion of 
their head dress is a sort of turban, made by- 
folding a cotton handkerchief in that peculiar 
kind of way known only to themselves. They 
select for this purpose the most gaudy that can 
be found. As I never saw any of the kind be- 
fore or since, I have concluded they were manu- 
factured for this express purpose by those who 
well understand what was most congenial to 
their tastes. During my stay in Georgia, I saw 
so many of those red and yellow articles worn 
by the colored people, high colors have never 
been endurable to me since. These turbans are 
so arranged, as to entirely conceal their own 
hair ; but those who are particularly desirous to 
make a good external appearance, wear false 
braids and curls as long as those that grace the 
face of any white lady. The market is free for 
trade from five o'clock in the morning till ten. 
Then the bell rings and all are obliged to dis- 
perse and take with them their unsold articles, 
for every thing that remains on the ground after 
ten o'clock belongs to the keeper. Trade is not 
allowed in the market excepting on Saturday 
evening, when it is more crowded than at any 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 21 

other time ; for the people come then to pur- 
chase for the Sabbath, and many go just because 
they want to see a great crowd. It has been 
estimated that on some pleasant evenings there 
are no less than four thousand people in the 
market at one time. Here almost every eatable 
thing can be found. Vegetables fresh from the 
garden are sold the year round. All kinds of 
fish, both shell and finny, may be had there; 
birds of all kinds, both tame and wild, and the 
most delicious tropical fruits, as well as those 
which are brought from cold countries. People 
travel a great distance for the purpose of buying 
and selling in the market. I have known wo- 
men to come one hundred miles to sell the pro- 
ducts of their own industry. Those who do 
this live in the northern part of the State, and 
differ much in their manners and customs from 
the people in the low country. They have no 
idea of style and refinement in living; a great 
many of them own slaves and they all work in 
the field together, white men and black men, 
white women and black women, without dis- 
tinction. I have been told it is not an uncom- 
mon occurrence to see a white woman holding 
the plough, a task, however, not so difficult 
there as it would be at the North, owing to the 
lightness of the soil. When the morning's 



22 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

work is done, they all repair to the house, both 
masters and slaves, where a pot of homony has 
been prepared for dinner, then all sit down on 
the floor, and help themselves out of the same 
dish. 



LETTER IV. 

Habits, Pursuits, and Ignorance of the People In the Northern 
Part of the State. 

In the northern part of the State of Georgia, the 
people manufacture all their own clothing, ex- 
cepting their hats, and sometimes thin shoes. 
In the spring they go to work, and plough the 
soil, plant and raise the cotton, then card, spin 
and weave the cloth by hand. Next they gather 
the weeds from which they make their dyes, 
such as indigo, &c, and when the cloth is col- 
ored, it is ready to be made into all kinds of 
needful apparel. Then when their new gar- 
ments are completed they are ready to take a 
journey to the city. Accordingly, they take 
their mules and fasten them with a parcel of 
white cotton cords to a little covered cart with 
one pair of wheels, very much such vehicles as 
the Irish people use on the railroads, then load 
them with chickens, ducks, geese, hominy, and 
perhaps a swine or two, or a wild deer ; lastly, 
they put in their cooking utensils, not only to be 



24 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

used on the way, but also in the city to save the 
expense of lodging at an inn. Thus equipped 
they set out on their journey. When night 
comes, they stop by the way side, detach their 
mules from their burdens, and turn them into the 
woods to seek their food, while they make prep- 
arations for their suppers. First they gather up 
a parcel of dried leaves and old limbs of trees, 
with which they kindle a fire, and then proceed 
to make their coffee and boil their homony. 
When they have partaken sufficiently of this 
simple repast, they creep into their carts for a 
night's repose. In this manner half a dozen of 
these women will perform a journey of eighty 
or a hundred miles. They make their calcula- 
tions, so as to reach the city about night fall, in 
order to be ready to take their places in the 
market as soon as it is open in the morning. 

When they arrive, they go directly to the 
market place, tie their mules round about upon 
the outside of market square, kindle up little fires 
in the street near the market, and cook their 
suppers as before described. But here, instead 
of sleeping in their carts, they camp down upon 
the cold, damp bricks in the market, exposed to 
the chilly and unhealthy air of a Southern cli- 
mate at night, with no other bed than what one 
coarse blanket makes for them. 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 25 

As a highway path leads through the market, 
I have often passed that way in the evening, 
and seen a good many of these miserable females 
lying fast in sleep. Early in the morning the 
poor mules arouse the whole neighborhood by 
their loud and doleful brayings, which is enough 
to frighten any one not accustomed to such 
sounds. It was this braying of the mules, to- 
gether with the loud conversation carried on 
between the venders and the purchasers, and the 
squalking of the fowls brought alive to the mar- 
ket, that aroused me so early on my first morn- 
ing in Savannah. 

These people, who live in the manner above 
described, are known by the name of " Crack- 
ers," so called from the circumstance that they 
formerly pounded all their corn, which is their 
principal article of diet. It was done by placing 
the corn on a flat rock, and then beating it with 
another, but now the hand-mill is used by many, 
which facilitates the process of cracking the 
corn, although the meal made by the mill is not 
much finer. There are but a few water-mills in 
the south part of Georgia, owing to a want of 
falls ; but in the upper part of the State it is 
owing to a want of enterprise in the people. 
The northern part of Georgia, I have been told, 
very much resembles New Hampshire, being 






26 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

hilly and rocky. Those who have traveled 
much in that section of country, say that when 
compared with New England its inhabitants are 
all of one hundred years behind the times in 
education, and in all kinds of improvements. In 
building their houses, they change little, if any 
more, from one generation to another, than the 
robins do, who build their nests now just as the 
first robin did that gathered her sticks and moss, 
and hatched her innocent brood in the garden of 
Eden. As it respects conveniences for cooking, 
they have none. Ovens built of brick are seldom 
seen ; when they are used, they are built out of 
doors, separated from any building. Iron ket- 
tles with covers, sometimes called Ducth ovens, 
are used when any thing of the kind is needed. 
Most of the bread is baked before the fire on a 
piece of wood or earthenware. Cellars, which 
we consider so indispensable, are never dug, to 
my knowledge. I never saw one either in the 
city or country ; consea x uently, we never see 
good butter there in the warm season ; its fluid 
state always required a deep dish when it came 
upon the table. Meat is not salted and barreled 
as here, but smoked and dried, and generally 
tainted during the process. I never saw any 
meat preserved in this way that I could eat ; 
and it was more than I wished to do, to sit at 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 27 

the table where it was. I was once passing a 
corn-house on a plantation with a servant wo- 
man, where I observed the smell of putrid 
flesh ; and on making inquiry what it was, the 
woman informed me that it was beef drying 
upon the top of the house ; for they dry all their 
meat in the summer, when they can have the 
benefit of a good hot July or August sun. To 
those educated in New England, the ignorance 
that is seen in many portions of the northern 
part of Georgia is truly astonishing ; many can- 
not read a word, or write their own names. I 
have heard merchants say, that in transacting 
business with many men of great wealth, they 
have found them obliged to use a mark for their 
signature. This deplorable state of ignorance is 
owing to the circumstance, that the government 
has made no provision for common schools, and 
no children can be educated, unless they are 
sent from home ; and board and tuition in the 
Southern cities are so expensive, that it requires 
a large fortune to educate a child ; consequently 
but a few are educated. 

Their religious privileges are very limited. 
They have some churches ; but they are few and 
far between. Some can not hear preaching 
without traveling twenty, thirty, or forty miles ; 
knowing this, how could we expect to see men 



28 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

otherwise than illiterate? For nothing so 
speedily tends to ignorance and barbarism, as a 
deprivation of Sabbath day and sanctuary privi- 
leges, Georgia, as well as many other of the 
Southern States, affords abundant room for mis- 
sionary labors, even now, and when the slaves 
are emancipated, if we are as solicitous to chris- 
tianize and educate our own heathen as we are 
now those abroad, a great many more ministers 
and teachers must be raised up than we have 
now, or we shall have none to spare for foreign 
nations. 



LETTER V. 
Savannah — Its Churches — Destruction of the Pulaski. 

As I began in a previous letter to describe some 
of the public buildings in Savannah by noticing 
the market, I will continue my description in 
this, beginning with the churches, of which there 
are two Presbyterian, one Lutheran, two Epis- 
copal, one Roman Catholic, a Jewish Synagogue, 
one Baptist church, one Unitarian, one Method- 
ist, a Seaman's Chapel, and two African 
churches. Some of these I shall notice particu- 
larly ; of others I shall say nothing, as they do 
not differ enough from Northern churches to 
make a description of them interesting to you. 

The Independent Presbyterian church, though 
rather old, is the most noble building of the kind 
in Savannah. It has an air of costliness within 
and without peculiar to itself. Its walls are 
built of fine hewn granite, which there is an ex- 
pensive article, as every block of stone is im- 
ported. The house is surmounted with a steeple 
so much taller than all the others in the city, it 



30 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

is often styled, " the High Steeple church." 
The finishing of the inner walls is quite as rich 
as that of the outward, and much more unique, 
being ornamented with many of the most beau- 
tiful specimens of ancient architecture. The 
floors in the aisles are composed of black and 
white marble, so arranged as to display a good 
deal of taste as well as skill. All around in the 
walls between the windows are niches, in which 
are placed slabs of various kinds of marble to 
commemorate the death of some distinguished 
individuals of the church. All these give the 
church a gloomy and very antique aspect. I 
have seen on some of these slabs the names of 
individuals lost in the steamboat Pulaski, an 
event of such recent date, and so melancholy, 
that it must be still fresh in the memory of all 
who ever knew any thing concerning it. At 
the time this noble steamer was blown up, sev- 
enty-five persons, mostly belonging to the first 
families in Savannah, lost their lives. The boat 
was a new one, and the captain held out as an 
inducement for many to accompany him on his 
first trip, that he should be only one night at 
sea in making a voyage from Savannah to New- 
York. Accordingly a great number of ladies 
and gentlemen embarked, while almost the 
whole city, assembled on the banks of the river, 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 31 

sent their loud huzzas after them till they were 
out of sight, little dreaming how soon the same 
voices would be raised in lamentations and woes. 
It was near sunset when the Pulaski left the 
port, and to almost all that gay and light-hearted 
company it went down for the last time. Only 
a few hours' sail completed their last voyage on 
earth, and landed them in the haven of eternity. 
In the twinkling of an eye this entire assembly 
of people were scattered to the four winds, and 
the vessel in a thousand fragments floating every 
where at the will of the great deep. A very 
few escaped to tell the dreadful tale. I was ac- 
quainted with one gentleman who was taken up 
by a vessel at sea, after he had floated eight 
days in a potato box, at the mercy of the winds 
and waves. A recollection of this dreadful 
scene was always attended with so much distress 
to this gentleman, that his friends were care- 
ful never to allude to it in his presence, and 
they even cautioned others not to speak of it to 
him. I knew another, a young man about eight- 
een years of age, who swam almost all night, 
and finally, when life was nearly extinct, landed 
upon the shores of Georgia. A lady told me 
that as soon as the news reached Savannah in 
the morning, that men, women, children, and 
servants, bareheaded and barefooted, and some 



32 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

not half dressed, it being very early in the day, 
almost frantic with agony, were rushing to the 
bank of the river, to learn something concerning 
the fate of some dear member of their own fam- 
ily, and she said that all day, nothing was hardly 
heard in any part of the city, but shrieks and 
cries, and groans, and of the most agonizing na- 
ture ; and when the corpse of a dear friend 
washed on shore, then a new burst of anguish 
broke forth. The churches were dressed in 
black, and the whole cily observed a season of 
mourning for several days. Some of the bodies 
washed ashore, but horribly mangled ; some 
were recognized, others were not. Some limbs 
were washed up, and one arm and a hand of a 
female were recognized by her husband, and de- 
cently interred in his front yard. I often passed 
a residence in the city while I was there, the 
exterior of which was so elegant and princely, 
it might almost be called a palace, and not un- 
frequently did I covet the ease, elegance, and 
comfort I doubted not was enjoyed within ; but 
one day when passing this same mansion with a 
friend, she told me a tale, which taught me 
never to judge of happiness by external appear- 
ances. The owner of this beautiful dwelling, 
she informed me, lived there alone in solitude 
and grief, attended only by a few servants. His 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 33 

wife, all his children, two or three sisters, and 
some other relatives belonging to the family, to- 
gether with his house servants, were lost in the 
destruction of the Pulaski. My friend then di- 
rected my attention to some monuments in the 
court yard, that she said had been erected by 
the bereaved husband and father in memory of 
the sad fate of his entire family. 

But to go on with my description of the 
churches. The Roman Catholic church is rather 
a small building, to which all the Irish people 
resort for worship ; and as in all other places, 
the priests are careful to make them as bigoted 
and superstitious as possible. Many of them at- 
tend mass daily, and high mass as often as it 
occurs. Many will rise early, and take a long 
walk in the morning for the purpose of crossing 
themselves with the holy water that stands in 
the court, belonging to the church. The syna- 
gogue is a neat brick building, without a cupola, 
and withal very unique in its appearance. Here 
the Jews congregate on the last day of the week 
to observe all the ancient customs of worship 
practiced by their ancient fathers. They ob- 
serve all their feasts, such as the passover, the 
feast of tabernacles, &c. When the period ar- 
rives for them to observe the feast of taberna- 
cles, in memory of that time when the Israelites 
c 



34 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

wandered in the wilderness, they carry into the 
synagogue trees and shrubs, and place them all 
about, so that their branches may cover their 
heads, and then they come during seven days, 
and worship, according to the injunction, " Ye 
shall dwell in booths seven days ; all that are 
Israelites born shall dwell in booths. And ye 
shall take the boughs of goodly trees, and the 
boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook ; 
and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God 
seven days." 

The African churches are large, old but very 
decent buildings, formerly occupied by white 
people for places of worship, but now every 
Sabbath, as well as some week day evenings, 
well filled with colored people. The pastors of 
these churches are colored men also, who are 
the descendants of those persons in Savannah to 
whom freedom was granted at the time of the 
declaration of American Independence. They 
are very well educated, and indoctrinated in the 
great truths of the Bible. While looking in 
upon one of these congregations one evening, I 
was so much struck with the novelty of the 
scene, greatly increased by the multitude of 
those gaudy turbans I have before described, I 
could hardly realize that I was in my own coun- 
try, and I do believe I should not have felt more 






REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 35 

like a stranger, if I had been in a church among 
the South Sea Islanders. 

Among the many other beautiful and public 
buildings of which much might be said, I will 
only notice those in these letters in which, on 
account of some particular circumstances, I feel 
the most interested. Of this class is the jail, the 
Female Orphan Asylum, the Soldiers' Barracks, 
and the city Hospital. These buildings are sit- 
uated at a convenient distance from each other 
just in the suburbs of the city, and in my next 
letter I shall commence a somewhat particular 
description of them by beginning with the Asy- 
lum for Female Orphan children. 






LETTER VI. 



Orphan Asylum— Children of Different Nations— Piety and 
Happy Death of an Orphan Girl nine years old. 

The Asylum was erected at a great expense by 
the ladies of Savannah, for those children whom 
Providence has deprived of natural guardians 
and the means of subsistence. It is a very 
large three storied brick building, plastered on 
the outside, and polished with hard finishing, to 
give it the appearance of being white marble. 
The steps leading up to the second story in 
front of the building, are built of pure white 
marble, costing twelve hundred dollars, and 
presented to the institution by a gentleman in 
Savannah. A beautiful wrought iron fence and 
gate enclose the front yard, and a high brick 
wall the back yard. 

The greatest number of pupils at a time in 
the institution, is from twenty-five to thirty. At 
the time I taught the school, the scholars were 
mostly the descendants of foreigners, who had 
emigrated to this country, where sudden and 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 37 

fatal diseases had caused their hapless offspring 
to be left to the mercy of strangers. There 
were at the same time in the family, all taking 
their meals at the same table, English, Irish, 
Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Ger- 
mans. It was not unfrequently the case, that 
those came into the institution who could not 
even call for a glass of water in a language we 
could understand. I remember one instance in 
particular, when a little girl tried for some time 
to make known her wants ; but when she per- 
ceived that none of us understood her, she wept 
as though her heart would break ; finally seeing 
that we were anxious to learn for what she 
asked, she put her hand to her mouth ; and 
when one of the girls hastily handed her a glass 
of water, she seized the cup as though she was 
nearly famished. In studying the characters 
and dispositions of these children, I found them 
very just representatives of the several nations 
to which they belonged. The peculiar kind of 
honesty and simplicity that always characterizes 
the Irish people, readily distinguishes their chil- 
dren, even after they have for a long time asso- 
ciated with other children. The Portuguese I 
always found to be artful, sly, suspicious, and 
never to be trusted, of violent temper, knowing 
no bounds to their anger when irritated. The 



38 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

French were gay, naturally easy and polite in 
their manners, but exceedingly fickle, one day 
the warmest friends, the next, if slightly pro- 
voked, the bitterest enemies. The Spanish, I 
could always depend upon ; if I once succeeded 
in gaining their friendship there was nothing to 
fear of losing it ; for they will give you the 
whole of their true and faithful hearts ; but they 
are as capable of hating an enemy as they are 
of loving a friend. They make no loud profes- 
sions of their love, but the sincere and deep de- 
votedness of the inmost soul is expressed towards 
a friend by every glance of the eye and expres- 
sion of the countenance. The purely English 
children, as soon as they can talk, exhibit all 
that dignity and nobleness of character, so nat- 
ural to the English people, as well as those 
strong powers of the mind which have made 
that nation a mistress over so many others. I 
found that even in the little child, there was 
always something to command a sort of defer- 
ence and respect from even those of superior age. 
The Germans were sober, grave, thoughtful, and 
one might say, in appearance rather cast down, 
of strong minds, and much given to study and 
reading. I had one German scholar, of very 
superior intellect; though of only fourteen years 
of age, she could read, write, and cipher, with 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 39 

perfect ease, both in her own language and in 
English, and she spoke our language with so 
much correctness, that no one could ever mis- 
trust she was German by birth. She read in 
her own language every day, and I observed 
when she read the Bible she always selected 
one in that language in preference to ours. 

But as I am so partial to the English charac- 
ter, before I leave the Asylum I cannot fail to 
give a brief account of one of the most interest- 
ing children I ever met with, whose name was 
Margaret Pritchard. Though my acquaintance 
with this lovely child was short, it will ever be 
cherished with the tenderest emotions of sym- 
pathy and pleasure. She was a native of Eng- 
land ; but at a very early age her parents emi- 
grated with her to this country, and took up 
their residence in one of our northern cities. 
Here God in his wise providence saw fit to visit 
this family with affliction, and remove from it 
the husband and father, leaving Mrs. Pritchard 
with her little daughter, without friends or home 
— strangers in a strange land. 

She then, with Margaret, removed to Savan- 
nah. But the great destroyer had not completed 
his work of devastation in this family. The 
delicate constitution of Mrs. Pritchard began to 
sink under her severe hardships and trials, and 



40 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 



it was evident that disease had already com 
menced its ravages upon her naturally feeble 
body. Her money was almost expended, and 
before she had time to make known her condi- 
tion, disease had made such inroads. upon her 
system as to prevent her from going out to pro- 
cure food for herself and child. How long they 
had been languishing in this condition is not 
known; but just before Mrs. Pritchard breathed 
her last, their helpless situation was discovered 
by a humane gentleman, while seeking subjects 
for charity. The poor mother was beyond the 
reach of assistance ; she needed but a little 
more than a coffin and a shroud. The little 
girl, who was nearly famishing, was kindly nour- 
ished for a few days in the gentleman's family, 
then placed in the Asylum. I was soon attracted 
by her correct deportment, and remarkably ami- 
able disposition. She always wore a forlorn 
countenance, but still did not appear unhappy. 
There was something in her countenance calcu- 
lated to excite pity from all who beheld her. 
She never appeared to feel an interest in the 
plays and amusements of her companions in 
the Asylum, and was always very careful not to 
soil or tumble her dress. I shall never forget 
how soon and quietly she would resume her seat 
in the school room in time of recess. 






REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 41 

But I soon found she had a source of happi- 
ness not derived from this world. Although 
young in years, she had learned to love her 
Savior. She had given her affections to God, 
and it was her delight to be alone, where she 
might without interruption enjoy his presence. 
She was often found on her knees in prayer in 
some secret corner, and many times was over- 
heard imploring mercy for herself, her teachers, 
and companions. It was evident to all who 
knew her, that she was speedily finishing her 
work in this world She grew in grace every 
day, and made rapid advances in the divine life; 
she was not like many children, afraid to be 
alone, neither was the darkness of night any 
terror to her. 

I remember one evening, a few weeks previ- 
ous to her last illness, she was missing ; and 
search being made for her, she was found alone 
in a dark chamber, in the third story of the in- 
stitution, a room appropriated in time of illness 
to the sick and dying. She had retired to this 
gloomy apartment, into which the other chil- 
dren, on account of the many unpleasant associ- 
ations connected with it, were afraid to enter, 
to commune with her Savior she so much loved. 
When the door was opened, she was walking, 
with her arms folded upon her bosom, up and 



42 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 



down her room, singing in a low, sweet tone 
some devotional words expressive of that sweet 
peace which pervaded her soul, and which at 
the same time lighted up her countenance with 
a smile more than earthly. Thus she continued 
to exhibit to all around her the reality of reli- 
gion, every day giving an example worthy of 
imitation both by young and old. But her 
days were numbered and nearly finished ; she 
had long been ripening for heaven, and God 
was about to take her to Himself. 

She was suddenly seized with a fatal disease, 
and after a short and most distressing illness of 
only three days, which she endured with un- 
common Christian fortitude, she sweetly fell 
asleep in Jesus, at the early age of nine years, 
and we followed her dear remains to the " pot- 
ter's field," where dust was consigned to dust, 
till the morning of the resurrection, when that 
which was "sown in corruption" shall bloom in 
immortalitv. 






LETTER VII. 
Punishment of Slaves — Their Opinions — The Barracks, 

Not far from the Asylum stands the city jail, 
the occupants of which are mostly slaves, not 
only those who have been caught while endeav- 
oring to obtain their freedom, but those also 
who have been sent there by their masters to 
undergo a course of punishment for some mis- 
conduct. The laws of the city forbid the mas- 
ter to whip his own slave ; therefore when he 
considers his slave deserving of punishment, he 
sends him to the jail with orders to have him 
whipped so many times a day for a certain num- 
ber of days; these seasons always occurred at 
stated intervals, so the poor victims knew when 
the hour was to arrive for them to endure their 
cruel discipline. I have seen the runaway slaves 
dragged to this place of cruelty with their 
hands tied behind them, attended by two or three 
white men, who made free use of the lash over 
their heads and shoulders, while they called 
upon all the powers of darkness, accompanied 



44 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

by profane oaths, to curse their masters, or im- 
plored God to redress their wrongs, according to 
the spirit of the sufferer. I knew of one female 
slave while I was in Savannah, who was sent 
here and beat daily during one whole week, not 
for any particular crime, but because she diu 
not happen to please her mistress. But this 
course of treatment so disheartened the woman,, 
she was never afterwards of any service to her 
owners. After she was taken out of the jail, 
she began to grow ill, refused nourishment and 
medicine, till she had so far declined that her 
mistress, beginning to have some apprehensions 
that she was in danger of losing a valuable arti- 
cle of property, undertook to force medicine 
into her stomach ; but all to no purpose ; as her 
master. said, and I presume it was even so, she 
was determined to die ; all the means that could 
be used could not prevail upon her to take any 
thing into her mouth the least calculated to 
nourish her or invigorate her debilitated system. 
She said she had nothing to live for; she could 
look forward to nothing but hard labor and 
cruel treatment and she preferred to die ; and 
God was pleased to grant to her her choice ; she 
survived her cruel beating and incarceration in 
the jail but a few days, and was gathered to her 
unhappy and unfortunate fathers. 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 45 

Just before she died she told a friend of mine, 
that her mistress was very cruel to all her slaves, 
and she believed God would not suffer her to 
go unpunished, even in this world; and as far 
as I am acquainted with that woman's history, 
she has already had so much trouble and misfor- 
tune as in some measure to verify this predic- 
tion. This same woman had a colored boy, about 
twelve years old, to whom she often entrusted 
the care of a young child. One afternoon while 
the mother was out making fashionable calls, the 
child was so fretful for the want of its mother, 
the boy was obliged to carry it in its arms from 
one place to another all the afternoon to pacify 
it; finally, near evening, when the babe had 
nearly exhausted itself by crying, and its nurse 
by carrying it about, it began to appear sleepy, 
and the boy laid it upon the bed, and then lean- 
ing over it, with his own face touching that of 
the child's while endeavoring to soothe it to sleep, 
his own wearied nature was soon overcome by 
sleep, and unconsciously sunk down upon the 
couch beside the sleeping infant, where the mis- 
tress, enraged at the sight, found him ; and, as 
she boastingly informed a friend of mine, " gave 
him such a beating as he deserved for such an 
outrage." But she did not long enjoy the privi- 
lege of beating a poor harmless boy for acci- 



46 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

dentally falling asleep on the bed with her child 
when overcome by fatigue ; the same summer, 
and I believe only a few weeks after this event, 
he was seized with a fever which he survived 
only two or three days ; by his death his master 
lost five hundred dollars, by the death of the 
woman I have just spoken of, he lost seven hun- 
dred, all the same season. 

If a slave is to be punished only once for 
some act of omission or commission, he is not 
often sent to the jail, but accompanied by his 
master to the market place, where he receives 
as many lashes from the knotted thong as his 
master chooses to order, from the hand of the 
man who takes his place there every morning for 
this purpose, and is recompensed for his labor. 

It was easy enough to know when the hour 
of flagellation in the jail had arrived, from the 
dreadful groans and shrieks that poured forth 
from the iron grated windows of that dark and 
gloomy abode of wretchedness and cruelty. 
During my residence in that city, two of those 
miserable beings were hung in the jail yard to 
atone for crimes which, if they had been perpe- 
trated by white men either at the North or 
South, instead of meeting with such a fate, 
would not have debarred the perpetrators from 
the most honorable station in society. 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 47 

In this place I will say one word respecting 
the singular notions of the future, maintained 
by the more ignorant portion of the black peo- 
ple. In the first place, they believe when peo- 
ple leave this world they go to some locality 
where they can converse with and enjoy each 
other's society free from interruption ; and that 
persons on leaving this world, can carry mes- 
sages from this to the one beyond the grave : 
accordingly a colored person about to be exe- 
cuted is surrounded by those who wish to send 
some endearing message to a departed father or 
mother, husband or wife, brother or sister or 
children. Further, they believe, and I have 
myself heard them assert the same, that in the 
life to come there will also be white people and 
black people ; but then the white people will 
be slaves, and they shall have the dominion 
over them. I never saw a negro a Universalist; 
for they all believe in a future retribution for 
their masters, from the hand of a just God. 

At a little distance from the jail were situated 
the barracks. It was quite a relief to turn my 
eyes from that ugly abode I have just been de- 
scribing, to these fine buildings. While the old 
black exterior of the former exhibited a striking 
picture of what was within, so no one could but 
judge from the outward appearance of the lat- 



48 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

ter that they were the homes of refinement and 
pleasure, for while I was there, only the officers 
of the army and their families resided in the 
barracks. These buildings were only two in 
number, fronting each other on the opposite 
sides of a square, leaving between them a beau- 
tiful little court-yard, in the middle of which 
stands the lofty standard from whose top on 
every pleasant day floated our country's star- 
spangled banner. 

Both of these buildings were furnished with 
two piazzas each, which looked towards the 
court-yard, and each supported by twenty-four 
white pillars. On these places of promenade 
might be seen almost any hour of the day young 
officers standing in little groups, or reclining 
at their ease on sofas, smoking cigars, or half 
asleep. Sometimes it would seem that a ro- 
mance had quite absorbed the attention of some 
one sitting apart from all the rest with his feet 
higher than his head, and resting upon the bal- 
ustrade, while in another shady corner the more 
thoughtful and grave air of the politician told 
plainly enough that the columns he held in his 
hand had furnished him with matter for serious 
reflection concerning our country's interests. 
From these pleasant abodes also the sound of 
martial music often broke upon the stillness of 






REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 49 

the evening, and the cheerful song from a light 
heart was not unfrequently mingled with the 
early matins of the birds, but nothing could be 
more discordant, both to the ear and heart, than 
when these sweet sounds on one hand went 
forth to meet the heart-rending sigh and groan 
that fell upon the ear from the other. 



LETTER VIII. 

The Hospital— A Little Friendless Girl — Her Sickness, Death 
and Burial. 

The last public building I design to speak of 
at present, is the Strangers' Hospital. This 
stands alone beyond the city, just in the edge of 
the woods. It is an old moss-covered brick 
building, above which the tall overgrown pines 
have long stretched out their tall branches on 
every side, almost concealing it from the public 
eye. The gloomy air and dreary solitude that 
reigns everywhere around these premises, al- 
most gives one the impression that he is ap- 
proaching a charnel house, rather than the abode 
of the living, and indeed this feeling is not 
without a just cause; for when one takes a 
peep a little farther into the woods in the rear of 
the main building, he just catches a glimpse of 
a little brown house half concealed in a clump 
of small trees and vines, where dissecting opera- 
tions and post mortem examinations are con- 
ducted by the young student and novice in the 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 51 

" healing art." I shall never forget the unplea- 
sant sensations I experienced the first time I 
visited this Hospital. While I was in the Asy- 
lum, a little girl, apparently about eight years of 
age, came into the school, who could not utter a 
syllable we could understand. Her health ap- 
peared to be very feeble, but the cause was as- 
cribed to a want of proper food and nursing, 
rather than to any disease ; for she was found 
in a miserable old hut all alone with the corpse of 
a female, probably that of her mother. It ap- 
peared she had belonged to a family who all 
but herself had been swept off by some of those 
fatal diseases common to the sickly season of the 
year. As soon as the child's situation was dis- 
covered, she was taken to that home for such 
fatherless strangers, the Asylum; but she re- 
mained with us only a few days, and was re- 
moved again before she had been taught to speak 
one word by which we could learn anything 
concerning her history. It soon became evident 
that she had some alarming disease upon her ; 
and fearing contagion, it was thought advisable 
to place her in the Hospital. This circum- 
stance first called me where afterwards I be- 
came a frequent visitor. Hearing one day soon 
after her removal, that the patients in the hospi- 
tal often suffered from want of suitable atten- 



52 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

tion and nourishment, I at once resolved to go 
and satisfy myself concerning the child's situa- 
tion. Consequently I furnished myself with 
such necessaries as I thought she might need ; 
and procuring an old German for my cicerone 
as well as interpreter, the latter being abso- 
lutely necessary, as the steward spoke German^ 
I started on my errand. But I almost regretted, 
when I found myself in the street, that another 
time would not answer as well for the purpose I 
had in view, for the evening was one of those 
starless ones, when night's blackest curtains 
drop their folds so closely around us, we cannoi 
discern the companion at our side. But going 
upon the principle not to "put the hand to the 
plow and look back," we proceeded on our 
way, and a few moment's walk across the com- 
mon brought us in sight of here and there a 
dim light peering through the thick boughs of 
the trees that stood before the hospital. Soon 
we found ourselves before the gate, and while 
we waited without for the porter, I must confess 
I felt a sort of chilliness creep over my limbs, 
for even the sound of our own footsteps fell back 
again upon our ears. No sound was there to 
interrupt that death-like silence, save now and 
then a dying groan, heard above the gentle rus- 
tling of the leaves, so low and soft, it seemed to 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 53 

me those poor dying, friendless, and homeless 
inmates might almost fancy they heard the whis- 
perings of angels about their windows already 
waiting to bear them away from a world of sor- 
rows. No sound of mirth echoed through those 
long dark halls, and a stranger would have 
known this was not the home of joy and glad- 
ness, and the half-hushed growl of the faithful 
watch-dog, as he eyed us askance without rais- 
ing his head from his paw, seemed as if instinct 
had taught the brute to ward off the gay and 
thoughtless intruder. , 

A few faint streams of light fell upon us from 
the casements above, just enough to make dark- 
ness more perceptible and to reveal to the sight 
fitful shadows of all surrounding objects, so that 
one might fancy he saw the ghosts of the de- 
parted, still hovering around their late abode$ 
as if loth to leave the place. 

At length the porter arrived and ushered us 
Into a spacious but antiquated hall, and from 
thence into the third story of the building, 
where we found the object of our visit lying 
upon a little mattrass on the floor in one corner 
of the room. We did, indeed, find the poor 
child in a most wretched state ; she could ask 
for nothing she wanted, for she spoke a language 
that not even the old German understood ; and 



54 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

those who had the care of her, I judged, did not 
take much pains to anticipate her wants ; but 
God in his infinite goodness soou saw fit to close 
her earthly sufferings and take this little, for- 
saken lamb to Himself. After my first visit, I 
went regularly every day to see her, as long as 
she lived. Finally on the sixth day, when I re- 
quested to be admitted to her, I was conducted 
to a room that had been occupied by masons 
and carpenters as a work shop. There, after 
clambering over all sorts of tools, boards, sha- 
vings, and heaps of clay and lime, I came to the 
emaciated remains I sought for, laid on a join- 
er's bench, merely covered with the fragment 
of a coarse tattered sheet. The body had not 
been washed, and the little uncombed, flaxen 
locks, hung carelessly over that cold marble 
brow, and not one of those duties had been 
observed generally practised previous to inter- 
ment. 

I proposed to have the corpse moved to the 
Asylum, decently laid out, and funeral services 
performed; but this was not considered prudent 
on account of the disease she died with ; con- 
sequently the corpse was put into a rough un- 
stained coffin, and carried away without cere- 
mony to that last home for all strangers, "the 
potter's field," and there its little grave lies un- 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 55 

noticed and unknown. There no fond mother 
comes at the evening twilight to bedew the 
low grassy mound with her tears, or to plant 
around it the willow and the myrtle, to mark 
the sacred spot ; but there its guardian angel 
will watch over all its dust " till God shall bid 
it rise." 



LETTER IX. 

The Stranger's Hospital — Sickness, Burial, and Death of the 
Deserted Woman. 

During my visits to the sick child, I spoke of 
in my last letter, I had an opportunity to become 
acquainted with some other persons confined 
there by illness. Generally in the summer and 
fall, the hospital is crowded with these unfortu- 
nate strangers, who are sick there at the public 
expense. This accounts for the neglect and ill 
treatment they often receive. I believe thou- 
sands die there, who might recover if properly 
taken care of. Young physicians are permitted 
to go there and try such experiments as they 
choose upon those patients, and it is not unrea- 
sonable to suppose, under such circumstances, 
more would be killed than cured. In one of 
those rooms I found a very pretty female, in 
whom I soon became much interested. She in- 
formed me she had been there seven years, and 
for the last five had not once supported her 
weight upon her feet. Notwithstanding her 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 57 

extreme helplessness, she always contrived, 
somehow, to keep everything belonging to her 
own dress and bed remarkably clean and white, 
making quite a contrast between her appearance 
and that of many around her. This woman 
was a native of one of the Northern States, 
where at an early age she had, as she. supposed, 
married a man worthy of her hand. For a 
time they prospered and were happy ; but at 
length he began to form unsteady habits ; and 
when he had spent nearly all his property, in 
order to retrieve his wasted fortune, took up 
his residence in Savannah. But he carried his 
evil practices with him, till finally he deserted 
his wife entirely, leaving her among strangers, 
without a farthing to purchase bread. Then 
she sought for employment among the families 
of the rich, and at last was obliged to accept of 
a situation as kitchen maid. In this capacity 
she toiled till she had accumulated five hundred 
dollars, when she was taken ill ; but not con- 
sidering her sickness alarming, she administered 
to herself a dose of calomel ; and instead of 
resting from her labors during the operation of 
it, went to washing windows and doors on one 
of the coldest days of a southern winter; the 
consequence was, she caught a severe cold, then 
the fever followed, which finally terminated in 



58 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 

ulcers, which broke out in every limb. When I 
saw her she had lost so many of the bones in 
her limbs they were not only useless but utterly 
deformed. I never saw a person who was more 
an object of commiseration. Without money, 
without friends, in a land of strangers, supported 
by public charity, and exposed to the caprices 
of a hard-hearted old steward, who would, or 
would not, just according to the disposition 
which governed his actions at the time she 
asked for it, grant her a few drops of some 
soothing antidote, or any other little necessary 
she might want. Yet she was a perfect exam- 
ple of the utmost resignation. It was early in 
the spring when I first saw this female, and I 
. continued my visits to her till the latter part of 
the summer when the sickly season set in, 
which in common with many others prostrated 
me upon a bed of languishing, from which I 
did not rise until thousands had been conveyed 
to their long homes, among whom was my friend, 
whose suffering on earth had ended. From the 
situation of my room, through the whole of my 
sickness and confinement I could see what was 
passing round about the hospital, without raising 
my head from the pillow ; and here, day after 
day, and a good many times a day, I saw coffin 
after coffin removed to the "potter's field," 



REMINISCENCES OE GEORGIA. 59 

which was located but a stone's throw from it, 
as if to remind those whose unfortunate lot had 
fallen in that unhappy place, that they had 
taken their last step towards their final home. 

Though what transpires after death does in 
no wise affect the inanimate mass of clay, yet 
it was melancholy to see those bodies laid in the 
grave, with not much more ceremony than 
would have been observed if they had been 
brutes. As soon as the soul had taken its flight 
from the body, without even being disrobed of 
of its death-bed apparel, it was put into a coffin, 
of which a large supply was always kept on 
hand, and buried as soon as possible, without 
even one short prayer being repeated. The 
good old sexton, who had so long been in com- 
pany with the dead that he seemed to have for- 
gotten how to smile, with a faithful servant who 
conducted the hearse, made up the whole funeral 
procession, and certainly, so far as their deport- 
ment was concerned, it was not wanting in be- 
coming seriousness and respect for the dead ; 
and even while the old slave and his master 
walked along slowly and silently on either side 
of the hearse, the slow and measured steps of 
the old gray mule seemed as though he had 
learned becoming reverence for the scene and 
the spot he was approaching. When the corpse 



60 REMINISCENCES OP GEORGIA. 



is brought to the grave, it is carefully lowered 
into its narrow house ; and then, as is the cus- 
tom on all occasions of the kind, the sexton 
takes up a handful of earth, and assuming a re- 
spectful and solemn attitude a few moments, he 
lets it fall slowly upon the coffin, while he re- 
peats, "and dust returns to dust." 

As soon as I was able to walk out, I hastened 
to the hospital to learn if my friend was still 
living, or whether she had shared the same doom 
of so many others there. I went to the gate, 
and finding it unfastened, I entered the yard ; 
then, seeing no living objects about the prem- 
ises, I stood awhile, and listened to ascertain if 
there were voices within the building; but not 
a sound fell upon my ear ; even the faithful 
watch-dog, with whom I had become so familiar 
that he would always wag his tail as soon as he 
saw me approaching, being no longer needed at 
the gate, was gone. I ascended the steps, and 
rang the bell ; but when I found there was no 
porter to answer to its call, I applied my hand 
to the door, and it readily gave me admittance 
to those halls of utter solitude. I passed from 
hall to hall ; and while every step reverberated 
from the top to the bottom of the building, I 
became more and more convinced I should find 
no human being there. I opened every door on 



red 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 61 

each side of the hall as I passed along, and 
everything told plainly of the dreadful havoc 
death had made. I went into the repository of 
coffins, where a few still remained ; but from 
the great number that had disappeared in my 
absence, I learned how great the work was that 
fell destroyer had completed. At last I ascended 
to the room, where I had been accustomed 
to find my friend ; but that voice, which once 
was so ready to hail my approach with the ex- 
pressive words, " O, I knew it was you, as soon 
as I heard your steps on the stair case," was not 
there to bid me a cheerful welcome after so long 
an absence. I went to the door, satisfied I 
should never behold that calm and heavenly 
face again. I opened it; there stood the bed- 
stead, stripped of all its furniture excepting the 
light pavilion which was thrown carelessly 
upon the frame above it ; but the body it had 
so long protected from the depredations of the 
musquitoes was gone. There was the small 
stand near the head of the bed, just where it 
formerly stood, with a few vials and a cup or 
two upon it ? but the medicine was no longer 
needed ; all was as silent as the grave ; that 
voice which had so long been heard there, not 
only in groans and sighs, but in prayer and 
praise, was hushed in death; and that body 



62 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 



which long had endured so much pain, had re- 
turned to its kindred dust ; while its tried spirit, 
I doubted not, had returned to the bosom of its 
Father. I felt sad while I reflected upon these 
things, but could not regret the happy exchange. 
I could only wish that I had been favored with 
a parting interview, and received her last bless- 
ing. 

After I had walked through those halls and 
rooms, reflecting upon the end and instability 
of all earthly things as long as I desired, without 
seeing any human creature, I took my depart- 
ure from a place where I had witnessed so much 
sorrow and distress, never to return to it ; and 
now, fearing I have already wearied your pa- 
tience by a detail of such gloomy scenes, I will 
also take my leave for the present of this kind 
of subjects; and in my succeeding letters I 
will try to throw more light into my pictures, 
though to my eye, every picture in human life 
presents more "shadows than light." 



: 



LETTER X. 

Streets of Savannah — Bay Street— Ships in the Harbor — The 
Bluff— Resort for men of business — Death of a Cotton 
Merchant's son. 

Before carrying my description into the coun- 
try, which I design shortly to do, I must dwell 
a little longer in the city, in order to note a few 
particulars, in whose relation I hope you will 
be interested. And first, I could wish that my 
descriptive powers would enable me to give you 
a somewhat correct idea of the beauty of some 
of the streets in Savannah, as well as of some 
of those places of resort that lie beyond it. 
But, at the best I can do, my delineation will 
fall so far short of the reality, I almost shrink 
from the undertaking. 

Running parallel with the Savannah river 
there are six, which are called the principal 
streets. The first lying adjacent to the river is 
called the Bay street. Upon this most of the 
business in the city is transacted. No respect- 
able families reside there. The buildings on 



64 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

this street are mostly stores, besides a few dwell- 
ings for colored people and sailors' boarding 
houses. The seaman's chapel is on the south 
end of the street, and the Exchange about the 
middle way of it; besides these I do not recol- 
lect that there are any other buildings of note 
there. The Exchange is a fine new building, and 
has the only observatory in the city, and this is, 
at all seasons of the year much resorted to, by 
those who are anxiously waiting the arrival of 
some friend at sea. This street is always so 
thronged by sailors, slaves, and rowdies of all 
grades and color, that it is not safe for ladies to 
walk there alone, and it is considered very dis- 
reputable for them to be seen there unaccom- 
panied by a gentleman, even if several ladies 
are together. I regretted much that this was 
the case, for nature has done more for this part 
of the city than any other. Savannah is built 
upon a high bluff, and this is the first street that 
lies upon it ; so there is from that side of it 
nearest the river a sudden descent towards the 
water, of perhaps twelve or fifteen feet, which 
gives to one standing upon the highest part of 
the bluff a most delightful view of the broad river 
that rolls below. Bay street runs the whole 
length of the city, and the greater part of it is 
shaded by trees on both sides so tall, and having 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 65 

branches so broad, that in many places they 
overlap each other, making the cool arch-way 
beneath one of the most delightful retreats from 
the feverish air, and the hot, red brick walls of 
the inland streets. It was one of the greatest 
luxuries I could enjoy, to escape the burning 
sands of the city, and spend a few moments of 
pastime upon those shady banks, and while the 
soft cooling breezes from the ocean's bosom fan- 
ned our heated brows, to stand and view the busy 
world " who go down to the sea and do busi- 
ness in great waters." There the observing 
and reflective mind sees scenes so emblematical 
of human life, he can not fail to draw fresh in- 
struction from what is passing around him. 
There, beyond the bar, the eye rests upon the 
noble ship that first was launched in British 
seas, lying at ease in all her proud majesty, un- 
moved and as little heeding the movements of 
all smaller barques, as the lordly nabob revelling 
in wealth and luxury, does the every day events 
of a laboring world. Still farther on, the eye 
just catches a glimpse of the powerful steamer, 
as it irresistibly ploughs its deep path in the great 
sea, and forces itself against wind and tide into 
the long sought for haven, reminding one of 
that class of persons on life's theatre, who, re- 
gardless of the rights and wrongs, lives and 






66 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 

possessions of their fellow creatures, rush on 
through seas of blood to glory and to fame. 
Then again, nearer to the shore, the light skiff 
almost destitute of ballast, not venturing its 
frail timbers among the heavy waves of deeper 
seas, skims along so lightly and smoothly above 
the rocks and quicksands that lie below, one is 
at first almost ready to believe the situation of 
those thoughtless gay, and almost brainless peo- 
ple, to whom these light barques are slightly 
analogus, was far the most desirable of any ; for 
while many, whose hearts are more capacious, 
and whose brains have more solidity, are con- 
stantly not only mourning over their own ills ? 
but also lamenting the woes of others, these 
careless, unconcerned beings seem to float along 
upon the surface of society far above human 
cares and sorrows ; but like the little skiff which 
is suddenly capsized if only a squall strikes her 
sails, so let but the blast of adversity sweep 
over their fortunes, and having none of that 
ballast in the day of trouble, which is acquired 
only by cares and toils, and all their bright 
hopes and prospects for the future are wrecked 
forever. 

At the bottom of the bluff there is quite a 
space of land, furnishing room for numerous 
store houses and for the unlading of ships and 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 67 

boats as well as for all the exports in cotton, 
corn, rice, and tobacco, brought there from the 
country. If the situation on the top of the 
bluff is one of the coolest and most desirable in 
a hot summer's day, the one at the foot is one 
of the hottest and most undesirable. There not 
a tree spreads out its branches to ward off 
a single ray from the scorching sun, neither 
does a spear of grass spring up there to protect 
the feet from the burning sands, yet here, 
through all the long tedious days of a Southern 
summer, where the height of the bluff forbids 
almost every current of air, not only colored 
people, but many white men, are compelled by 
the love of filthy lucre, to pass their hours from 
morning till evening in the vending and purchas- 
ing of goods. I knew one young man, whose 
father dealt largely with English merchants in 
the trade of cotton, who had been long kept in 
this unhealthy situation, because his father con- 
sidered his services indispensable. Finally, af- 
ter much persuasion on the part of the son, the 
father condescended to let him go for a while 
into the country, giving him some encourage- 
ment that he would put him in charge of a 
plantation there. It so happened that I was 
staying at the place where he came to spend a 
few months, and I often heard him express the 



68 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

most ardent desires that his father would let 
him remain in the country, and not call him 
back again to that burning place. I shall never 
forget the almost childish enthusiasm with 
which, from morning till night, he roamed the 
woods for wild deer and turkies, or sailed the 
creeks for fish ; and when his father sent for 
him to return to his old post again, I heartily- 
pitied him, it was with such deep regrets he 
took leave of his rural sports. But he immedi- 
ately obeyed the summons, and almost the first 
news we heard from him was, that he was dead 
and buried. The heat of the sun to which he 
was compelled to be exposed through the long 
days of summer, seemed to be unusually intense 
that season, and it caused one of those fatal 
fevers which sweep off many in those hot cli- 
mates ; and, when it was too late, the father in 
the deepest anguish of his soul learned that he 
had sacrificed a son, one of the most beautiful 
specimens of blooming manhood, to his own 
avarice. 



LETTER XI. 

Browton Street, and an old Dilapidated Building — Its aged 

occupant — South Broad Street — A Rural Retreat — 

Captain Abraham's Place. 

The next street that runs parallel with the 
river, and is worthy of particular notice in these 
letters, is Browton street, so named in honor of 
an old pilot, who had amassed great riches in 
his seafaring profession. This street is very 
broad and beautifully shaded by rows of trees 
extending through the whole length of it. As 
this was one of the first streets laid out in the 
city, we see more ancient dwellings here, than 
we do in many other parts of it. I remember 
one old building in particular, that had not been 
altered or repaired for more than half a century. 
It was a very long building and rather low, for 
a house having two floors ; old clay covered 
chimneys stood upon each end on the outside, 
and a piazza extended the entire length in front 
of it. There I frequently saw the ancient ten- 
ant of this ancient dwelling sitting upon a bench 



70 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 

with his chin resting on his hands clasped above 
the top of his staff, while the long silver locks, 
bleached by a hundred summers, fell upon his 
shoulders, causing him to look so old, I could 
not wonder he did not wish to have any thing 
around him assume a more youthful appearance. 
The same three cornered hat that had covered 
the locks of blooming manhood, still sat upon 
that head, and the long waisted coat with wide 
skirts, the small clothes, and large silver buckles 
at the knees and smaller ones on the tops of the 
shoes, were all in strict keeping with the old 
dilapidated moss-covered tabernacle of its aged 
master. I could not help reflecting how unlike 
and how much more becoming was the garb of 
this old man than that of many at the present 
day, who, so, it would seem, endeavor to retard 
the wheels of time, by various repairs and white 
washings of their decaying clayey tenements? 
supplying the place of the long wasted * grind- 
ers,' and with false wigs and curls trying to 
conceal the blossoms for the tomb, making every 
thing around them look youthful but deep fur- 
rows upon the face, which art has never yet 
been able to fill up. 

Now I must speak of the most beautiful street 
in all Savannah, which is South Broad street, 
laid out on the south side of the city, and of 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 71 

great width as its name implies. In this street 
there are five paths, two for carriages and three 
for foot passengers. Between each of these is 
a row of trees which are of the largest size, 
whose widely extended branches mingle with 
each other from one side of the street to the 
other, forming long leafy archways which on a 
moonlight evening resemble so many shadowy 
and mystic aisles in some old Gothic Cathedral, 
which to one at the entrance continually dimin- 
ish in magnitude till they are finally lost in dark- 
ness and distance. The middle, pathway being 
overgrown with grass is only promenaded in 
pleasant weather and during those hours of the 
day when the ground is free from dew. In the 
morning and evening, and on rainy days, the 
side-walks paved with bricks are resorted to. 
There are but a very few paved walks in Savan- 
nah, owing to the circumstance that all the 
stone used there is imported, and if bricks were 
extensively used, the atmosphere would become 
unhealthy from the moisture they would collect. 
I never saw a rock even of the smallest size 
while in Georgia ; even gravel could not be ob- 
tained there, consequently those kinds of walks 
which at the North are graveled, at the South 
are filled with sea-shells, laid down with the 
rounded side up. Though there may be some- 



72 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

thing lost in a pecuniary point of view in being 
obliged to have recourse to such an expedient, 
yet certainly there is not as far as the beauty of 
the walks is concerned. 

I have often thought how great the wonder 
and surprise of a person would be, who had 
never been out of the low country in Georgia, 
if he was to be suddenly transported to the 
North and dropped down among some of the 
rocks and hills of New Hampshire, for there are 
many so unaccustomed to any thing but exten- 
sive plains they can hardly realize what a moun- 
tain or ledge of rocks looks like. I have fre- 
quently thought if the people in Savannah could 
have our old Kearsarge set down among them, 
they would almost fall down and worship it, and 
surely I could not much blame them if they did, 
for I believe when I was there, if I could have 
caught a glimpse of its old hoary head or inhal- 
ed one pure breath right from its top, I should, 
for once at least, have been guilty of mountain 
idolatry ; for all the time I was South my eye 
never rested upon any thing that even resem- 
bled a little hillock, excepting the embankment 
that was thrown up round about the city in our 
last war with Great Britain. This formed a 
rather pleasant little rise of ground, and it 
seemed to be a luxury to many besides myself 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 73 

to resort thither, for a walk at the close of a 
hot summer's day. 

There was also another beautiful little re- 
treat not far from the old fortification, where I 
spent many a pleasant half hour when it was 
not occupied by its lawful owners. It was a 
little sweet romantic grove, just out of the city, 
that on Saturdays was frequented by the coit 
club, an association of those young men in the 
city, who, by their noble birth, or wealthy pa- 
rents, or professions, consider themselves enti- 
tled to the appellation, the " Aristocrcy." They 
had selected this spot for the theatre of their 
pastimes, and cut down all the small trees and 
shrubs, leaving only a sufficient number of the 
largest growth to make one of the most.delight- 
ful of nature's arbors. In one corner of the 
grove stood a small lodge, where they store 
their coits, footballs, and settees, the latter being 
taken out and placed around in different parts 
of the grove when they assemble together. 
Here also they keep their eating and drinking 
establishments. I imagined from appearances 
that it was not a small proportion of the com- 
pany that loved a good jolly hour over the con- 
vivial glass. 

About eight miles from the city was a plan- 
tation that every stranger, even, was told he 



74 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 



must visit before leaving Savannah, called Cap 
tain Abraham's place, a term meaning no more 
nor less than the plantation where Captain Abra- 
ham, an eccentric old bachelor, enjoyed all the 
sweets of solitude ; and found his amusement 
in causing the trees and plants to assume all 
those fantastic forms, which his own odd fancy 
might happen to suggest ; he was one of those 
men of whom Pollok said, 

" He made acquaintanceship with plants and flowers, 
And happy grew in telling all their names." 

His plantation was seven or eight miles from 
the city, isolated from all others, and laid out 
in a beautiful romantic spot bordering upon the 
South Newport River. Every part of the plan- 
tation not only gave evidence of high cultiva- 
tion, but also showed that its lord took pleasure 
in sporting with the vegetable kingdom. Here 
the trees were growing in all shapes according 
to the will of the cultivator. Some were in the 
form of cones and pyramids, some grew like the 
spires of a church, and many cedars bore a per- 
fect resemblance to center tables. The fences 
were all overgrown with vines and the walks 
were everywhere adorned with the choicest flow- 
ers, even, the twining vines and fast accumula- 
ting moss was not suffered to be disturbed by 
the workman's hammer in repairing the old 



: 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 75 

decaying cottage; and all was so still and 
peaceful around this little shady covert, the 
feathered tribes were not afraid to congregate 
there to chant their early matins, and when all 
other birds had gone to sleep in their leafy 
bowers, the whipporwill gladly hastened back 
to this enchanted spot to repeat her evening 
serenade, and if justice had been done to the 
beauties of this place, it would have long ago 
been called Captain Abraham's Paradise. 



LETTER XII. 

Boniventure — Thunderbolt — Extract from a letter from a 
friend in New Orleans. 

A place called Boniventure is another favorite 
resort for all who desire the luxury of the 
shady forest, and on certain days, partic- 
ularly for those gentlemen who are fond of 
rolling ninepins and of other like sports. It 
was a little spot in the midst of a thick wood, 
where a good many years ago all the trees 
were cut down excepting those that formed 
seven or eight rows for a considerable distance. 
These trees have now grown to the size of our 
largest elms, the branches of which not only 
overlap each other on either side, but also in 
many places reach the ground. 

But what makes this place appear unusually 
romantic and delightful to the stranger's eye, is 
the moss with which these trees are heavily 
loaded. This moss, if suffered to grow, in a 
few years so accumulates that the tree looks as 
if covered with coarse tow cloth ; that which 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 77 

hangs upon the lowest limbs often touches the 
ground ; then that which grows upon the next 
branches reaches those beneath, and so on to 
the topmost branches of the tree. After all, to 
have a correct idea of one of those moss cover- 
ed trees, one must see it with his own eyes. 
This moss is gathered in large quantities by the 
colored people to be used in filling matresses ; 
when dried it looks like coarse black hair, 
though one would think it was already dry, 
when he saw it on the tree, if he did not exam- 
ine it. In this place stood a large, fine monu- 
ment, erected over the grave of a distinguish- 
ed citizen of Georgia, and enclosed by a high 
brick wall that time is now fast leveling to the 
ground. When I stood by this solitary grave I 
could not but reflect how great his surprise 
must be at the resurrection, who had selected 
this lone spot for his last repose, to find myriads 
springing into life on all sides of him, "and 
claiming their proper dust from the same spot." 
Though I am one of those who are always rea- 
dy to think that every excursion of pleasure, 
whether by land or water, is attended by a 
thousand pleasures, yet I think I never enjoyed 
any thing of the kind half as much as an eques- 
trian excursion among the shades of Boniven- 
ture, accompanied by twelve or fourteen choice 



78 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 



~r 



companions, each having perfect command of 
his own beast. There one party was often met 
by two or three more, e%ch of which would ap- 
pear to be not a little solicitous to see which 
could exhibit the most skill in horsemanship ; 
and it was not uncommon for the ladies to vie 
with each other in the speed of their horses or 
in endeavoring to see who would show the 
most dexterity in guiding them' through the 
most difficult labyrinths that could be found 
among the deep entangled thickets round about 
Boniventure. While some would be running 
races over the fallen trees, and among the vines 
and bushes of the deeper woods, others would 
secure their beasts beneath a wide spreading 
and moss covered oak, to amuse themselves at 
the nine-pin alley, and others again more fond 
^of rural scenes than such sports would walk 
about the old monument, gathering from it here 
and there a bit of moss, or a creeping vine as a 
pleasing memento of Boniventure. Never did 
I visit a spot that seemed so classical ; and while 
the student might here fancy he enjoyed the 
sweets of " Academus sacred shade," a Walter 
Scott might there recline upon a grassy mound, 
and while the chattering squirrels hopped from 
branch to branch, " and dropped their nutshells 
on his head," and while the music from the 



REMINISCENCE ot 

^S OF GEORGIA. Ot 

neighboring boughs enchanter . , . 

. , n *bose sunny skies 

lay the scene of a romance not mibi^, ' T 

. . i . i i • i i lf -I was 

which have long been read with so much mtei ^ 

est. Here the poetical " miseltoe" might be 
seen in large bunches growing upon the trunks 
and limbs of the oak, and I wondered how 
squirrels could be so numerous there, if the 
sportsman's gun had often frightened them from 
their beautiful haunts. The fox squirrel was 
the largest animal of the kind I ever saw there, 
and of the same color as our fox,.perfectly re- 
sembling the grey squirrel in form, and in size 
about half way between the grey squirrel and 
the fox ; and a stranger seeing these merry lit- 
tle creatures skipping from bough to bough, 
would almost think a parcel of young foxes had 
taken to the trees. 

From what circumstance Thunderbolt derived . 
its name I never knew, but now the same might 
be said of it, as of ancient Tyre, " it is a place 
for the spreading of nets." This also is about 
seven or eight miles from the city. It is a little 
settlement of fishermen upon the bank of the 
river, where boats of all sizes might be seen 
upon the water, or drawn upon the shore for 
the purpose of being dried and repaired. Fish- 
ing nets and lines were spread all around to be 
dried, and many an old fisherman might be seen 



78 REMINISCENC^OF GEORGIA. 

companions, eacbn-day nap beneath the shade 
his own hfg willow, while his favorite spaniel, 
'ached at his side, enjoyed the same repose. 
I remember the last time I ever visited this 
spot was on horseback, and feeling very thirsty, 
I rode up to one of the fisherman's huts and 
asked for a glass of water, and presently the 
good mistress of the house herself appeared 
with the cooling beverage. When I handed 
her back the cup and was about turning to 
go away, she said, " You must call again when 
you ride out this way." I told her it was 
the last time I ever expected to see that place ; 
with a good deal of surprise depicted on her 
countenance, she asked, " why." I told her 
I was a stranger there, and in a few days I 
was going to my own loved home ; she then 
replied, " O well, you will come back again ; 
for any one who has once quenched his thirst 
from these wells will thirst for this water 
again." And O ! how many times since, when 
I have sat alone in the dreariness of my own 
chamber, through a long winter's evening, and 
listened to the cold northern blasts as they 
swept past my window, have I remembered that 
good dame's words. It is not merely the cup of 
water I now pine for, but the luxury of those 
soft, cooling breezes, as they blow from the 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 81 

bosom of the ocean, and of those sunny skies 
and ever green groves. But after all, if I was 
now m Georgia, I might long for some of the 
good things that are to be had only in our fa- 
vored New England. The human mind is sel- 
dom satisfied with its present enjoyments. It 
is prone to magnify the evils of its present situ- 
ation and enhance the blessings that may be 
enjoyed in those far off. As far as my own 
experience can testify, where there are great 
advantages to be possessed, there are also dis- 
advantages equally great to balance them ; and 
I have about come to the conclusion that good 
tmd evil in this world are more equally dispens- 
ed than at first we are apt to suppose. I was 
never more forcibly reminded of this than one 
evening while taking a walk with a dear friend 
at the South. To enjoy a sweet twilight hour, 
at the close of a hot summer's day, we had re- 
tired to the shores of a beautiful creek, which 
at a little distance from us opened into*the At- 
lantic. The tall cedar and bending cypress 
darkened our path in many places, and among 
their thick branches the birds that had sung all 
day, warbled out their last sweet strains before 
retiring to rest. The stars were just peeping 
out one by one, and afar off in the east, where 
the blue mountain waves seemed to dash against 

F 



82 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 

the vaulted sky, a little red spot began to make 
its appearance, as the harbinger of the rising 
moon. The evening sea breezes stole most 
agreeably upon us, and to an eye taking a per- 
spective view of us, it would seem there was 
nothing to mar the pleasure of our walk ; but 
alas ! there must always be a thorn to sting 
the fingers that plucks the rose ; so in our case, 
among the thickly matted grass, that, to look 
upon, appeared to form a soft green carpet for 
our feet, there lurked ten thousand little prickly 
burs that compelled us every few moments to 
stop and pick them from our shoes and the bot- 
tom of our dresses, to prevent them from 
wounding our feet. Speaking with my friend 
about the little vexations we must always en- 
dure, even when the prospect for pleasure seems 
brightest, she remarked, that a friend of hers, 
who had traveled a great deal in every quar- 
ter of the globe, told her that " all things con- 
sidered, one place in the world was as good as 
another." To conclude this article I will quote 
a few lines written by a friend at New Orleans, 
as they will better express what I wish further 
to say upon this subject than my own words. 
" And now for the contrast between the North 
and the South. How often in my imagination 
have I compared my situation this winter with 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 83 

that of my friends in New Hampshire. Whilst 
you are all wading through snow and ice, I am 
walking on nature's green carpet ; and while 
you are crowding and shivering around great 
fires, I am carrying an umbrella to protect 
my head from the scorching sun. While you 
are listening to the whistling wind and the 
jingling sleigh bells, I am charmed by the music 
of the grove, the martin and the mocking bird. 
While you are peeping out of your frosty win- 
dows, to catch a glimpse of your snow-capped 
hills, I am gazing upon the green foliage, and 
trees covered with blossoms, and plucking flow- 
ers from the field, and oranges from the trees ; 
and whilst you are feasting yourselves upon 
baked beans and pickles, tables here are loaded 
with green peas and lettuce, fresh from the 
garden. But I have carried the comparison 
far enough. You can imagine the rest. Let 
me say, however, that with all this seeming 
preponderance in favor of the South, there 
are drawbacks here, that, with me, give the 
counterpoise, or rather turn the scale com- 
pletely in favor of the North. Yes, to say 
nothing of her institutions, just think of the 
misery of writing this letter with one hand 
and fighting musquitoes with the other ; and 
after my day's work is over, and * tired nature 



84 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

seeks repose/ instead of enjoying the free cir- 
culation of air in my room, I must needs 
crawl under musquito bars, like a whipped dog 
into his kennel, to protect my body from being 
eaten up alive. O horrible ! give me a New 
Hampshire snow-bank." 



LETTER XIII. 

Condition of the Slaves — Two Little Girls trying to learn the 
Letters of the Alphabet — The Colored People's Asylum- 
Dogs — The Militia of Georgia. 

Notwithstanding the great precaution which 
is used to prevent the mental improvement of the 
slaves, many of them steal knowledge enough 
to enable them to read and write with ease. It 
is often the case, that the white children of a 
family impart much of that information they 
have acquired at school to those among the 
black children who happen to be their favorites ; 
for it must be understood that not only every 
little boy and girl has each a favorite slave, 
but also every young man and woman have their 
favorite servants, to whom they not only often 
impart much useful information, but confide in 
them more as companions than merely waiting 
men and women ; and it is not uncommon to 
see the favorite slave nearly as wise as his mas- 
ter. A lad about eleven years of age, in the 
family where I once visited, made it his prac- 



8$ REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA . 



tice, unknown to the family, to spend an hour 
or two every day in teaching a black boy to 
read ; an act exposing the father of the noble 
hearted boy to a heavy fine if found out. This 
fact come to my knowledge by a colored woman, 
who had sufficient confidence in me to believe I 
should not betray the child. Clerks often in- 
struct the slaves who labor in the back stores, 
and many by this means acquire a decent educa- 
tion. I have often seen a young man belonging 
to one of the largest firms in Savannah, who 
could read, write, cipher, and transact business 
so correctly, that his masters often committed 
important trusts to his care. The firm valued 
him at fifteen hundred dollars. He read with 
great eagerness every northern paper that came 
within his reach, and had by this means gained 
a good knowledge of the political state of our 
country. At the time I was there, he was deeply 
interested in the election of President Harrison? 
as were the slaves generally in the Southern 
States, for they were all Harrison men, and they 
were bold enough to assert publicly that "when 
William Henry Harrison became President of 
the United States, they should have their free- 
dom ;" and, believing as they did, who could 
lament the death of the worthy President more 
than the poor slaves I 






REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 87 

I do not know that ever I was more deeply 
impressed with a sense of the cruelty of depri- 
ving the slaves of the means of instruction than 
one evening while on my way to my room I met 
two little colored children, apparently about 
eight years old, trying to find out between them- 
selves some of the letters of the alphabet. It 
appeared that one of them had found an old, 
crumpled, soiled leaf torn from a toy-book, upon 
which a few of the large letters were still legi- 
ble ; and then they had seated themselves upon 
the stairs to study them out. One of the chil- 
dren was saying just as I reached them, that she 
heard somebody say that the round letter was 
O ; the other replied that "she heard such a lit- 
tle girl say the straight letter was L ;" so alter- 
nately each was teacher and scholar. O, if the 
children at the North, who are almost compelled 
to go to school, could have witnessed that scene, 
it would I think have taught them a lesson not 
soon to be forgotten. I longed for an opportu- 
nity to give them that information they seemed 
so desirous to obtain ; but I hastened up to my 
room, fearing to be found there, lest it might be 
thought I was attempting to instruct them. 

As a general thing the slaves in the city 
wear good clothing. Many even dress extrava- 
gantly and decorate their persons with a great 



88 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

deal of costly jewelry. I have seen colored 
men with no less than six or eight rings upon 
one finger. Many in the city have good houses 
and expensive furniture. I have seen ladies in 
the streets with such light complexions and 
dressed so elegantly that when told they were 
negroes I could not willingly credit the asser- 
tion. I ought here to say that at the South all 
w T ho have a drop of the African blood in their 
veins, however white their skins may be, are 
called negroes. But those who dress and live 
in the manner above described, purchase their 
time, and all they can earn besides paying a cer- 
tain sum per week or month to their masters, 
they use in any manner they choose. A gentle- 
man informed me he had a slave who accumu- 
lated more property than himself, after paying 
nine dollars per month for his time. It is quite 
common for a master to give his slave all his 
time, if he will take care of himself after he has 
become so old and worn out as to be of no ser- 
vice to him. It often happens that infirm old 
slaves are by the death or failure of their mas- 
ters left without any sort of a home or means of 
subsistence. As a remedy for this evil in Sa- 
vannah, a kind of asylum has been prepared for 
all such helpless old people among the black 
population ; but from what I have been able to 



REMINISCENCES OP GEORGIA. 89 

learn respecting the institution, it is next to hav- 
ing no home at all ; and those who avail them- 
selves of the comforts it affords, only do it 
when every other resource for the means of 
subsistence fails them. I have known poor old 
men almost bent to the ground by hard labor, 
with locks which age had bleached as white as 
newly washed wool, rather than to go to this 
asylum, travel from one plantation to another, 
begging a potato from one slave and a morsel of 
homony from another, sleeping at night in some 
corner of an old out-house or in the woods, 
till they were finally compelled by those who 
thought themselves doing a deed of mercy, 
to take up their residence in a place as much 
dreaded by these unfortunate creatures as the 
alms house is at the North by poor people. 

But those among this down-trodden race of 
people in our country, w T hom I commiserated as 
much as any while in Savannah, were the little 
chimney sweeps. These were the most forlorn, 
half-starved, emaciated looking beings I ever 
beheld. Their masters always accompanied 
them about the city, because they could not 
trust them to go to their labor alone ; for they 
were invariably obliged to beat them before they 
would ascend a chimney, the task was so revolt- 
ing even to those who are accustomed to this 



90 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 

barbarous practice of using live flesh and blood 
for chimney brooms. But notwithstanding this 
task seemed so dreadful, extreme hunger often 
compelled them to climb upon the outside of the 
house in the night time, and then descend the 
chimney to steal something to eat. 

I suppose every one who knows anything 
about slavery would expect, if he went South, 
to see all shades of color among the slaves ; yet 
after all it is an odd sight to see them with light 
complexions, red hair, and blue eyes ; and as 
strange as this might seem, I have seen all these 
characteristics of the European blended with 
the short curly hair, (though red,) flat noses, and 
thick lips of the African race. I have seen 
heads about half covered with red hair, and the 
other half with black, and all of it short and 
curly. 

The slaves carry all their burdens upon 
their heads, and to me it is quite unaccountable 
how they can sustain such weights as they do 
in this manner. They will transport from one 
place to another, tubs of water, large, heavy, 
iron-bound trunks, or any other burden they can 
raise to their heads. I have seen the man who 
had the care of the city lamps going from one 
street to another, with a ladder in one hand, a 
large wooden box in the other, and a heavy can 



REMINISCENCES OP GEORGIA. 92 

of oil on his head. Even the white children 
often learn from their nurses to carry things in 
this way. It is quite common to see a little 
group of school girls with all their books on 
their heads going to or returning from school, 
and almost the first thing the little child tries to 
do when it begins to walk is to balance its toys 
upon its head. I have often heard the old 
washerwomen complain of pain in their necks 
after supporting on their heads a large tub of 
water or basket of wet clothes. 

The dog is the negro's favorite pet, and almost 
every man and woman owns one or two of these 
faithful animals ; consequently they are exceed- 
ingly numerous in the city. Efforts are often 
made to diminish their numbers, but they seldom 
avail much, as their owners generally succeed 
in concealing them when their lives are threat- 
ened. For myself I was glad the poor slaves 
had something they could call their own, and 
think it extremely cruel in those who would 
take from the oppressed servant the only thing 
he might venture to set his heart upon. In the 
da}' time the dogs usually left the city to seek 
their food in the woods, but they always returned 
at night to the city ; and they often collected to- 
gether in such companies on moonlight nights 
that people could not sleep in consequence of 



92 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 

their howling and barking : this circumstance 
made the poor beasts many enemies, though I 
could not see why it should, for it is a sound I 
always like to hear ; for there is something so 
painful to me in the solemn stillness of the night 
that the barking of a dog, or even the hooting 
of an owl, is preferable to total silence. I was 
never more deeply impressed with the beauty 
and force of an expression of the Psalmist, than 
I have been while listening hour after hour to 
the howling of these dogs, as they answered one 
another from every part of the city. " They 
return at evening, they make a noise like a dog, 
and go round about the city." 

Just hearing the sound of martial music, I 
am reminded of the appearance and of the man- 
ner in which military parades are conducted at 
the South, of which I will say a few words be- 
fore I close this letter. In the first place all 
their musicians are colored men ;, for the white 
gentlemen would consider it quite beneath their 
dignity to perform such a piece of drudgery as 
to play for a company while doing military duty. 
These colored musicians are dressed in the full 
uniform of the company to which they belong, 
and on the morning of the day in which the 
several companies are to be called out, each 
band in uniform, one at a time, marches through 



REMINISCENCES OE GEORGIA, 93 

all the streets to summon all the soldiers to the 
parade ground. This performance also calls out 
all the servants that can obtain permission to at- 
tend the training ; and it is not a few of them?, 
that not only follow, but go before the companies 
wherever they march. They are excessively 
fond of such scenes,. and crowds of men,women f 
and children, never fail of being present on all 
such occasions, some carrying their master's 
young children on their heads and shoulders,, 
while many are seen with large trays on their 
heads, loaded with fruit, sweetmeats, and various 
kinds of drinks to sell, to those who always wish 
to purchase on such days. In Savannah there 
are five of that kind of companies that exist in 
all the States, and are called by all names, com- 
posed of all such persons as only perform mili- 
tary duty because they are obliged. In Savan- 
nah they are called ragmufnns, and I never heard' 
a name more appropriately applied* Scarcely 
any two were dressed alike or took the same 
step ; and whenever \ saw them approaching 
some with a shoe on one foot and a boot on the 
other, some with their guns wrong end up, and 
others with them on their shoulders, wearing 
their knapsacks bottom up, and wrong side out,. 
I could not help thinking one might suppose 
they were learning how to catch up their guns 



94 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

and knapsacks and effect the most speedy escape 
in time of danger instead of facing an enemy. 
The independent companies are a credit to the 
militia system. They are well disciplined and 
wear elegant and expensive uniforms. The 
hussars are a noble and splendid company, 
mounted on fine spirited steeds so well-trained 
that they understand the word of command 
nearly as well as their riders. 



LETTER XIV. 

A journey into the country — The Church in the woods — A 

dinner by the way side — Wells on the highway— The 

little haven — Arrival at the Plantation. 

After having spent several months in the city, 
I left it for a residence in the country during the 
summer season. As we had a journey of fifty 
or sixty miles to perform in one day, by private 
conveyance, it was necessary to set out very 
early in the morning. Accordingly, long be- 
fore the dawn of day, or the morning sun be- 
gan to lift the dense white fog from the tops of 
the trees and houses, the carriages were at the 
door, and all things ready for our departure. 
Here I took a reluctant leave of those friends 
whose acquaintance, though it had been short, I 
highly valued, to go again among entire stran- 
gers. One friend abundantly supplied me with 
the richest tropical fruits and sweet meats for 
my journey, another loaded me with papers, 
periodicals and books, very opportunely remem- 
bering that the mind as well as the body need- 
ed refreshment, while all heaped upon me their 



96 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 



best farewell wishes. Never did I feel sadder 
when taking leave of a place than I did that 
morning. When I looked back to catch the 
last glimpse of the place where lived the few 
in a strange land who cared for me or I for 
them, and when I cast my eye around upon the 
companions of my journey, and saw not one 
among them whom I had ever seen before, my 
heart misgave me for the step I was taking. 
On leaving the city, we took a south-easterly 
course, and a few moments' ride carried us into 
the dark woods, where certainly, if I had not 
been traveling in a little caravan, I should have 
had some apprehensions concerning our safety ; 
but our company was large and well provided 
with means of defence, which is always neces- 
sary when traveling in the woods of Georgia, 
and was particularly so at that time on account 
of the Indians, by whom many were robbed 
and killed that year while traveling. Seeing 
that our personal safety had been cared and pro- 
vided for, I endeavored to make myself as com- 
fortable as possible in my no wise enviable sit- 
uation, thinking, too, we should shortly come 
to open land and cultivated fields, but in this I 
was disappointed. The further we went the 
more dark and gloomy every thing grew. 
Trees on each side of us, heavy with moss, 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 97 

stretched out their limbs over our pathway, 
shutting out almost every cheerful ray from the 
sun, which at that time, we greatly needed, it 
being the winter season, and the morning was 
cold and damp. In this manner we rode, hour 
after hour, meeting with nothing to vary the 
scene save now and then a little country cart 
drawn by a mule and conducted by a woman, 
or a slave with a swine, or deer, or bunch of 
live fowls upon his head, going to market. Oc- 
casionally our approach would start a timid 
hare from the path, or scare up some large wild 
bird, which then would flap its lazy wings and 
disappear from our sight. Finally, about the 
middle of the forenoon, we passed a building in 
the woods, by the way side, that I supposed was 
a barn, yet why it should be there, so far from 
any cultivated field or human habitation, I could 
not divine ; consequently I made inquiry con- 
cerning the matter of the gentleman I was rid- 
ing with. He looked quite surprised at my 
interrogation, and certainly I was no less so at 
his answer, when he said it was a meeting house. 
I then asked, as a matter of course, where the 
people came from who worshipped there ? He 
replied: "Oh, out of the woods, all around 
here.' , But I was no more enlightened upon 
the subject; it was all beyond my comprehen- 



98 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

sion what the church was there for, or from 
whence the people could come who assembled 
in it, for we had then rode perhaps twenty 
miles and had not before seen a single spot of 
cleared land, or any thing that bore the least 
resemblance to a building, and the whole re- 
mained a mystery to me till I had been in 
the country long enough to know more of 
its manners and customs. I had observed, all 
the way along, little dark avenues leading off 
into the woods on our right and left, but never 
for once dreamed they were more than such 
paths are at the North, which we often see 
while traveling on a road through the woods. 
Here such roads are made by lumber men while 
clearing timber in the winter, but there each 
one of them leads to a plantation. In all that 
country one might travel a week on the main 
road, and see nothing of the plantations. To 
have a view of these, one must turn off from 
the highway and pass through one of those nar- 
row avenues for two, three, or four miles, then 
after passing a gate he will soon find himself 
among luxuriant crops of corn, cotton, and to- 
bacco. So I was much nearer the abodes of 
men than I supposed through all that long day 
in which I thought we were all the time going 
farther and farther from human habitations. If 



REMINISCENCES OP GEORGIA. 99 

I had known this at the time, it would have sav- 
ed me a good many unhappy regrets for hav- 
ing left the city. In such a path as this we 
traveled long after I had begun anxiously to 
look out for an inn, greatly needing rest and 
refreshment; but just as I began to despair 
of finding the desired entertainment that day, 
as the woods all the time seemed to grow thick- 
er and darker, the gentleman in the forward 
carriage who took the lead of our little party 
stopped and called out to the company, " if it 
was not time for dinner." I w T as not a little 
surprised as well as amused, and began to think 
this was going to be another incomprehensible 
meeting-house affair, but all mystery vanished 
when^ I saw saddle-bags, portmanteaus, and 
wallets brought out and emptied of their con- 
tents upon a cloth spread upon the ground. 
Then I found, for the first time, how conven- 
ient it was to be independent of a public house, 
and that our necessities could be w 7 ell supplied 
right in the woods, and save our half dollars 
into the bargain ; for our good host had well 
considered our wants before leaving the city. 
After a little rest, and man and beast had suf- 
ficiently partaken of their repast, w r e set for- 
ward on our journey again, while the plumed 
songsters sent forth their sweetest and m6st en- 



CfO 



*&* 



100 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

chanting notes to cheer us on, We often pass- 
ed in the course of the day wells of water by 
the way-side, dug for the comfort of the way- 
faring man and his beast in that " dry and thirs- 
ty land/' where there are no cooling streams 
nor fountains of water. Here " the old oaken r 
iron-bound bucket hung in the well," from 
which our horses many "times during the day 
quenched their thirst. About the middle of the 
forenoon we came to a river where we had a 
toll-bridge to pass. Here was a toll-house and 
blacksmith's shop, the first buildings we had seen, 
excepting the meeting-house, after leaving Sa- 
vannah. We tarried there a little while to have 
one of the carriages repaired, and then plunged 
into the dark woods again. Near evening we 
reached a small settlement on a wide creek 
where large boats and sloops run up from South 
Newport river to land various kinds of mer- 
chandise. It was one of the sweetest little 
spots I ever saw. Weeping willows grew plen- 
tifully up and down the shores of the creek, ex- 
tending their slender branches over the barges 
there lying upon their oars, while the sailors 
who manned them, added the sound of the bu- 
gle and violin to the music of the surrounding 
forest in chanting the evening's parting lay to 
setting sun. Now for a short season we en- 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 101 

joyed the evening twilight, then the darkness of 
night began to close in upon us. Trees on eith- 
er hand formed arches above our heads, and 
though occasional openings among the boughs 
suffered us to get a peep at a star or two, the 
darkness before us the remainder of the even- 
ing appeared impenetrable, yet we always found 
the darkness to recede as we advanced. So we 
may always find it in life's pathway. When 
our course appears the darkest and most hedg- 
ed up, if we but persevere we shall find when 
we arrive at the spot w T hich seems impassable 
at a distance, like Mary at the tomb of our Sa- 
vior, that " the stone is already rolled away," 
If Bunyan's Pilgrim w T hen he saw the lions on 
the hill of Difficulty, had then turned back he 
never would have known that they w T ere bound. 
So we should never give up a laudable under- 
taking because doubts and uncertainties often 
seem to obstruct our path ; these are placed be- 
fore us to test our fortitude and perseverance 
rather than to prevent us from doing what we 
thought to be our duty. At length we came to 
one of those dark avenues I have before spoken 
of. After having gone about two miles in this 
road, so narrow we were often obliged to make 
use of much adroitness in order to avoid the 
limbs of the trees, w T e came to a gate which 



102 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

opened upon an extensive plantation, as I right- 
ly judged was the one to which we were bound. 
At the farther extremity of this wide plain we 
saw faint lights through the branches of a cluster 
of trees, when one of the company observed that 
when we reached the spot where those lights 
were we should complete our day's journey. 
It was grateful news to me, for then it was past 
eight o'clock, and besides being chilled through 
by a cold December dew, I was never more 
faint and weary, but still the thought almost 
froze my soul that those warm hearts which 
would gladly have welcomed me to a good warm 
New-England fire, were not waiting there to 
greet my coming. When we arrived at the 
planter's house we were met at the gate by half 
a score of servants, who came out to take the 
horses and assist us from our carriages. I was 
then conducted beneath a beautiful growth of 
shade trees, then up a short flight of steps on 
to a broad piazza, and from thence into one of 
the principal rooms of the house, of which in 
my next letter I will try to give you some de- 
scription, and if I succeed in giving you a good 
idea of this, you will well understand the gene- 
ral appearance and situation of all the buildings 
of the kind in that region. 



LETTER XV. 

A Southern Planter's House. 

The house of which I promised in my last let- 
ter to give a description, according to general 
custom, stood upon four posts about five feet 
from the ground, allowing a free circulation of 
air beneath, as well as forming a fine covert for 
the hounds, goats, and all the domestic fowls. 
It was only one story high, though much taller 
than buildings of the same description at the 
North. It was divided into four apartments 
below, and two in the roof, and furnished with 
two broad piazzas, one in front of the building, 
which there is always the gentleman's sitting 
room, and one on the back of the house, where 
the servants await their master's orders. Hou- 
ses are built low on account of the high winds 
they are exposed to, their foundations being so 
frail that if high they would be easily thrown 
down in one of their heavy gales. The build- 
ing was slightly covered with boards, arranged 
like clapboards to shed the rain. This was the 



104 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 

entire thickness of the walls, there being no 
ceiling, lathing, or plastering within. The 
floors were all single and laid in so unworkman 
like manner, I could often see the ground be- 
neath, when the carpets were not on the floor, 
and they are always taken up in the summer to 
make the apartments cooler. The roof was 
covered with long shingles nailed to the tim- 
bers, to save the expense of boards beneath, 
the ends of one tier just lapping upon the next, 
and this executed so shammily that not only the 
wind, but the light and rain often finds free ac- 
cess into the upper apartments, through ten 
thousand holes among the shingles. Two chim- 
neys, one upon each end, built of turfs, sticks, 
blocks of wood, and occasionally a brick, plas- 
tered over with clay, ornamented the outside of 
the house. The windows were furnished with 
panes of glass, a luxury but few enjoy ; after 
all glazed windows were used more for orna- 
ment than comfort, for in the coldest weather 
they were always raised, and in stormy weath- 
er the piazzas protected the inner rooms. The 
above is as true a description as I can give of 
the singular fashioned house to which I was con- 
ducted on my arrival in the country. My ap- 
pearance there was altogether unexpected by 
the whole family, therefore there was no small 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 105 

stir, nor little inquiry among the negroes and 
the younger members of the family, what I was 
there for, who I was, and from whence the 
strange lady had come, who had so unexpec- 
tedly dropped in among them. From the room 
in which I sat, I could look into all the other 
apartments about me, and I was not a little 
amused to see the many dark forms with bare 
feet and noiseless steps flitting about from one 
place to another, to get a peep at the new com- 
er, and to hear the whisperings on all sides of 
me, of which I well understood I was the sub- 
ject. The servants would come to the win- 
dows on the outside, and lift up one corner of 
the curtain to steal a look at me, others would 
creep softly up the steps of the piazza and peep 
into the door, while one old woman, less bash- 
ful than the others, ventured into the room, 
dressed in a coarse ozenburg gown, extending 
a little below the knees, with bare feet, neck, 
and arms, and came before me and made a low 
courtesy, accompanied by the formal salutation, 
" how de Misse," and then sat down on the 
floor at a little distance from me, and in a very 
respectful manner entered into conversation. 
She was one of the oldest women on the plan- 
tation, and though she was one of the field 
hands, she had free access to her master's house, 



106 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

and she possessed such a good share of common 
sense that her master and mistress always con- 
sulted her on important matters, and she was 
looked up to and reverenced by the whole fam- 
ily as a sort of mother. While I remained on 
the plantation she frequently called at my room 
to spend an hour or two in conversation, and I 
never failed of obtaining some useful informa- 
tion from her on these occasions. All this time 
I was eagerly watching to see if I could discov- 
er any preparations going on preliminary to a 
supper, but as I could discover none, and it was 
then near nine o'clock, I had just summoned all 
my fortitude to meet my hungry fate with the 
most becoming resignation, when a robust 
young woman made her appearance up the 
steps of the back piazza into the room where I 
was, and brought out two or three large tables, 
nearly reaching from one side of the room to 
the other, and began to lay them for supper. 
Presently another of the same description came 
from the same quarter, bringing the eatables. 
When all these preparations were complete, the 
tea-bell was rung from the piazza, which to my 
great surprise, for I had seen only two or three 
white persons, excepting those I came with, 
brought around the table a family of twenty or 
twenty-five persons, consisting partly of tran- 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 107 

sient members and visitors. Where they all 
came from, was as mysterious to me as where 
those people lived who attended the church, for 
I had not yet forgotten about the meeting house 
in the woods. Soon after tea I was conducted 
to the room I was to occupy while a resident in 
in the family, one of the chambers in the roof. 
Though my first impressions concerning my fu- 
ture comfort in it were very unfavorable, yet I 
found, after I had learned that my accomoda- 
tions for that place were of a superior order, 
and when I had had a view of the surrounding 
scenery from my windows, that it was one of 
the most delightful of situations, but the dark- 
ness of evening when I first entered my apart- 
ment shutting out from my view every object 
but the rough walls around me, it could not be 
thought strange if my forebodings were not of 
the most pleasing kind. Though the house was 
of but one story, it was so constructed that I 
had three windows in my chamber ; these were 
closed with heavy board shutters. The floor 
was smooth and white, and the walls ceiled to 
the windows, the remainder being rough boards. 
Over head there was nothing to be seen but the 
unfinished timbers and shingles, warped into all 
shapes. The furniture was brought from the 
North, and consisted of all those articles usual- 



108 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

ly used in furnishing such rooms, and looked 
very natural, all but my bed. This had very 
high posts, and was covered with a spread so 
small that it gave the bed the appearance of 
standing on stilts. My doubts concerning my 
future convenience did not at all diminish by 
taking a view of the surrounding objects ; never- 
theless I made haste to avail myself of all the 
comforts my apartment afforded, and shortly 
was nicely ensconsed beneath the quilts and 
coverlets ; but when I had extinguished my 
light I was utterly thrown into the horrors, to 
find instead of a close warm shelter for my head, 
a complete seive was stretched out over me, and 
being raised in a land where every one is taught 
to be afraid of the least crevice that will admit 
the cold air, I could not shut my eyes to sleep 
for perfect terror at those thousand of holes in 
the roof, through which the light of the then 
rising moon was staring in upon me; they 
seemed to me, through the greater part of that 
night, to be so many cold and freezing eyes try- 
ing to look me out of countenance. In the 
morning, on throwing open my blinds, and tak- 
ing a view of the surrounding scenery, I began 
to feel much more reconciled to my situation 
than on the previous evening. At the south 
east the ever rolling Atlantic stretched itself out 



REMINISCENCES OE GEORGIA. 109 

as far as the eye could reach, and where the 
sky and water seemed to meet, now and then a 
sloop would lose itself to the sight, or a little 
white speck would appear which would grow 
larger and larger till a ship under full sail would 
ride majestically over the mighty waves. On 
all other sides of the plantation the dark green 
forest of the long leafed pines completely hem- 
med us in, separating us from all other planta- 
tions and leaving us a little world by ourselves. 
As I said before, the plantation was an exten- 
sive plain, which at this season of the year was 
covered with the decaying stalks of the last 
years' crops, waiting to be gathered and burned 
to make room for a new harvest. The dry, 
black cotton stalks were still standing, and 
though it was very early in the morning the 
slaves were busy in pulling from the bursting 
burs the snow-white cotton. Here and there in 
different parts of the field the little curling 
smokes betrayed the bon-fires at which the poor 
women warmed their frost-chilled fingers. The 
plantation was beautifully dotted with oak and 
mulberry trees that fortunately for those who 
love to hear the birds sing, did not share in the 
general wreck when the plantation was cleared. 
I found, also, that on this as all other plantations, 
it required more than one building to make up a 



110 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

family residence, and that instead of having all 
the necessary apartments under one roof as at 
the North, there were nearly as many roofs as 
rooms. In my next letter I will speak of all these 
separate little buildings. 



LETTER XVI. 

Buildings connected with a Southern Plantation — A Walk in 
the Woods — The Robin — The Preparation of Cotton for 
the Market — Women engaged in Falling Trees and Build- 
ing Fences. 

Agreeable to my promise in my last letter, I 
will now go on with my description of the 
buildings belonging to a Southern plantation. 

In the first place there was a paling enclosing 
all the buildings belonging to the family and all 
the house servants. In the centre of this enclo- 
sure stood the principal house, the same I have 
already in a previous letter described. In this 
the father of the family and all the females 
lodged. The next house of importance was the 
one occupied by the steward of the plantation, 
and where all the white boys belonging to the 
family had their sleeping apartments. The next 
after this was a school house consisting of two 
rooms, one for a study, the other the master's 
dormitory. Then the cook, the washer-woman, 
and the milk-maid, had each their several houses, 
the children's nurses always sleeping upon the 



112 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

floor of their mistress' apartment. Then again 
there was the kitchen, the store-house, corn- 
house, stable, hen-coop, the hound's kennel, the 
shed for the corn mill, all these were separate 
little buildings within the same enclosure. 
Even the milk-safe stood out under one great 
tree, while under another the old washer wo- 
man had all her apparatus arranged ; even her 
kettle was there suspended from a cross-pole. 
Then to increase the beauty of the scene, the 
whole establishment was completely shaded by 
ornamental trees, which grew at a convenient 
distances among the buildings, and towering far 
above them all. The huts of the field servants 
formed another little cluster of dwellings at con- 
siderable distance from the master's residence, 
yet not beyond the sight of his watchful and 
jealous eye. These latter huts were arranged 
with a good deal of order and here each slave 
had his small patch of ground adjacent to his 
own dwelling, which he assiduously cultivated 
after completing his daily task. I have known 
the poor creatures, notwithstanding " tired na- 
ture" longed for repose, to spend the greater part 
of a moonlight njght on these grounds. In this 
way they often raise considerable crops of corn, 
tobacco, and potatoes, besides various kinds of 
garden vegetables. Their object in doing this 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. U3 

is to have something with which to purchase 
tea, coffee, sugar, flour, and all such articles of 
diet as are not provided by their masters, also 
such clothing as is necessary to make them 
appear decent in church, but which they can 
not have unless they procure it by extra ef- 
forts. 

From this you see the slave is obliged to work 
the greater part of his time, for one coarse torn 
garment a year, and hardly food enough of the 
coarsest kind to support nature, without the least 
luxury that can be named. Neither can they 
after the fatigues of the day repose their toil worn 
bodies upon a comfortable bed unless they have 
earned it by laboring many a long, weary hour 
after even the beasts and the birds have retired 
to rest. It is a common rule to furnish every 
slave with one coarse blanket each, and these 
they always carry with them, so when night 
overtakes them, let it be where it may, they are 
not obliged to hasten home to go to rest. Poor 
creatures ! all the home they have is where their 
blanket is, and this is all the slave pretends to 
call his own besides his dog. But I find I have 
wandered far from the morning which com- 
menced the period of my residence in the coun- 
try, so now I will return to my own strange 
quarters again. 

H 



114 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

Early I went to work to make such a disposi- 
tion of my books and all other things pertaining 
to my own apartment as I fancied would contri- 
bute most to my own comfort and make it ap- 
pear the most homelike. When this was done 
I left the house for a walk in the woods, hoping 
there to be able to shake off those evil spirits, 
sometimes called the blues, which I found were 
determined to haunt me at all events. Although 
it was now the last of December the forests were 
still green, and scarcely a tree had shed its sum- 
mer leaves, yet there was not that freshness in 
the verdure that characterizes the young leaves 
of spring, but age was written upon every little 
shrub and twining vine, and an autumnal hue 
tinged every thing with a sort of melancholy. I 
went far into the woods, and finding a little 
grassy mound in the midst of a sort of opening 
among the trees, I seated myself to think of that 
sacred spot in the land of my fathers I still loved 
to call my home, and if fancy's airy wings could 
have as easily transported the material as the 
immaterial, how soon should I have been there 
basking in the sunshine of a mother's love ! 
Though I always make it a point in whatever 
situation I am placed "therewith to be content," 
yet I must confess a degree of sadness came 
over me I do not often experience, and I shall 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 115 

never forget how opportunely a lone robin came 
and seated herself upon the ground at a little 
distance from me. I would have pressed the 
dear bird to my bosom, for she was one of my 
own country's sweet songsters, and I knew that 
like myself, she felt that she was a stranger 
there. She looked sorrowful and timid as though 
she thought she must be careful about her de- 
portment while from home, and it is a fact that 
the robins do not appear to be the same cheer- 
ful, happy birds while at their winter homes that 
they are at the North. I never heard a robin 
sing while I was there, and instead of coming 
around the buildings as they do when they are 
with us, they appear shy and tarry in the woods. 
People at the South never see their nests and 
young ones, but when spring comes they hasten 
home, and every little child here knows with 
what glad songs they return to their old nests 
again. 

I found after I had been in the country a few 
months that the season when I first went there 
was the most gloomy part of the year. At this 
time there were but few slaves upon the planta- 
tion, many of them being let out to boatmen who 
at this season of the year are busily engaged in 
the transportation of goods and produce of all 
kinds up and down the rivers. The sweet sing- 



116 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

ing birds, too, were all gone to their winter 
quarters still farther South, but when they had 
all returned, and the trees began to assume the 
freshness of summer, and the plants to put forth 
their blossoms, I found it was far from being a 
dull and gloomy place. During the greater part 
of the winter season the negro women are busy 
in picking, ginning, and packing the cotton for 
market. 

In packing the cotton, the sack is suspended 
from strong spikes, and while one colored person 
stands in it to tread the cotton down, others 
throw it into the sack. I have often wondered 
how the cotton could be sold so cheap when it 
required so much labor to get it ready for the 
market, and certainly it could not be if all their 
help was hired at the rate of northern labor. 

The last of January the servants began to re- 
turn to the plantation to repair the fences and 
make ready for planting and sowing. The 
fences are built of poles arranged in a zigzag 
manner, so that the ends of one tier of poles 
rests upon the ends of another. In this work 
the women are engaged as well as the men. 
They all go into the woods and each woman as 
well as man cuts down her own pine sapling, 
and brings it upon her head. It certainly was 
a most revolting sight to see the female form 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 117 

scarcely covered with one old miserable gar- 
ment, with no covering for the head, arms, or 
neck, nor shoes to protect her feet from briers 
and thorns, employed in conveying trees upon 
her head from one place to another to build 
fences. When I beheld such scenes I felt" cul- 
pable in living in ease and enjoying the luxuries 
of life, while so many of my own sex were 
obliged to drag out such miserable existences 
merely to procure these luxuries enjoyed by 
their masters. When the fences were com- 
pleted, they proceeded to prepare the ground 
for planting. This is done by throwing the 
earth up in ridges from one side of the field to 
the other. This work is usually executed by 
hand labor, the soil is so light, though sometimes 
to facilitate the process a light plough, drawn 
by a mule, is used. The ground there is reck- 
oned by tasks instead of acres. If a person is 
asked the extent of a certain piece of land, he 
is told it contains so many tasks, accordingly so 
many tasks are assigned for a day's work. In 
hoeing corn, three tasks are considered a good 
day's work for a man, two for a woman and one 
and a half for a boy or girl fourteen or fifteen 
years old. 



LETTER XVII. 

Why the Southern Planters build no better houses — Hand Mills 
— Negro Dance — The African slave — A Southern cook. 

In answer to the question, "Why the planters 
have no better dwellings," I would reply, that 
they are under the necessity of changing their 
places of residence so often, on account of the 
soil, which in a few years becomes barren, 
owing to the manner in which it is cultivated, if 
they invested much property in buildings, they 
would be obliged to make great pecuniary sac- 
rifices ; therefore they have but little property 
that is not moveable. Their possessions gen- 
erally consist in slaves, herds of swine and cat- 
tle, horses, mules, flocks of goats, and numer- 
ous fowls of all kinds, fine carriages, furniture, 
plate, etc., which can be transported when oc- 
casion demands a removal from one old worn 
out plantation to another of new and fruitful 
soil. A Northerner, who is accustomed to judge 
of a farmer's property by his buildings, would 
suppose, when he first went into the country at 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 119 

the South, that many of great wealth were 
poor men, their buildings are so miserable. 
The manner of estimating a planter's pecuniary 
circumstances is by the number of his slaves, 
consequently a man ambitious to be called 
wealthy, strives as hard to increase the number 
of his slaves, as a man North does to add to the 
number of his acres of land, or dollars in the 
bank. I have visited plantations where the 
master's residence had not a pane of glass in 
the windows, nor a door between the apart- 
ments, and even the outside doors would have 
been dispensed with, if it could have been done 
with personal safety. Neither was there the 
shadow of a board to intervene between the 
ground floor and the coarse unhewn shingles, 
as seen on the inside of the roof, yet the table 
was loaded with an almost endless variety of 
the richest delicacies that could be obtained from 
the woods, fields and creeks, and when night 
came, beds of the softest down were ready for 
our reception. The fields, too, were full of men 
servants and women servants. The poultry 
yards were full to overflowing, and the woods 
teemed with numerous herds of cattle, horses, 
mules, and goats, while scores of red and yel- 
low swine literally turned up the meadows in 
search of worms; yet with all these posses- 



120 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

sions, that which we consider so indispensable 
to comfort, was a mere shell, and could all be 
taken down and removed in a few hours. 

In traveling in that section one often meets 
deserted plantations, and I have often been told 
such is the case throughout the Slave States. 
This is occasioned by no means being used to 
enrich the soil. A plantation is cleared, and a 
sort of temporary huts erected, then covered 
with slaves who cultivate the soil as long as it 
will produce any thing, then left for another to 
be used in the same way. I have often visited 
these ruined grounds, but never could I walk 
over the spot where the poor slave seated him- 
self to partake of his scanty meal, or where he 
couched down upon the hard ground in his 
tent for a short repose after a long day of hard 
toil, without thinking of the many tears that 
had probably fallen there, and of the sighs and 
groans that had been wafted to heaven from 
that very spot, and when I looked over those 
desolate and barren wastes, I was superstitious 
enough to think that even the toil of the stolen 
son of Africa had cursed the soil, and that his 
sweat bedewing the ground had been trans- 
formed to a blighting mildew. 

I have, in a previous letter, spoken of the 
slaves grinding corn ; this is done by hand- 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 121 

mills constructed of two round flat stones, the 
upper one being turned around upon the other 
by hand labor. One person can, though, with 
a good deal of difficulty, grind corn alone, but 
it is customary for two at a time to engage in 
this labor. This mill is probably the same in 
kind with those used in Oriental countries, res- 
pecting which our Savior said, " Two women 
shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be 
taken the other left." The time for the grind- 
ing of corn was always in the evening after 
the daily tasks were done. 

About seven o'clock, in the summer season, 
the colored people would generally begin to as- 
semble in the yard belonging to the planter's 
residence. Here they would kindle little bon- 
fires, not only to ward off the musquitoes, but 
because they are considered essential in the hot 
season to purify the air when it is filled with 
feverish vapors that arise from decayed vege- 
table matter. Then while two of their number 
are engaged at the mill, all the rest join in a 
dance around the burning fagots. In this man- 
ner were spent the greater part of the summer 
evenings, and it w T as usual for the white mem- 
bers of the family to assemble on the piazza to 
witness their pastimes, and sometimes at the re- 
quest of a favorite slave, I have seen the white 



122 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

children engage in the waltz, or take their 
places in the quadrille. Slaves from adjoining 
plantations would often come to spend an even- 
ing with their acquaintances, and bring their 
corn with them to grind. The grinding gener- 
ally commences at about six in the evening, and 
the hoarse sound of the mill seldom ceased 
much before midnight. 

Though the slaves in general, notwithstand- 
ing all their hard toils and sorrows, had their 
happy hours, there was one old woman on the 
plantation who always looked cast down and 
sorrowful, and never appeared to take any inter- 
est in what caused the joy and mirth of those 
around her. She was one of Afric's own home 
born daughters, and she had never forgotten 
those who nursed her in infancy, nor the play- 
mates of her childhood's happy hours. She 
told me she was stolen one day while gathering 
shells into a little basket on the sea shore, when 
she was about ten years old, and crowded into 
a vessel with a good many of her own race, 
who had also been stolen and sold for slaves, 
and from that hour when she left her mother's 
hut to go out to play she had never seen one of 
her own kindred, though she had always hoped 
that Providence might bring some of them in 
her way; " but now," she replied, " I begin to 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 123 

despair of ever seeing those faces which are 
still fresh in my memory, for now I am an old 
woman, and shall soon get through all my troub- 
les and sorrows, and I only think now of meet- 
ing them in heaven.'' When requested she 
would favor us with a song in her own language, 
learned before she was stolen, but when she 
came to sing of her native hills and sparkling 
streams, the tears would trickle down her sun- 
burnt and furrowed cheeks, and my heart could 
but ache for this poor creature, stolen away in 
the innocence of youth, from parents, kindred, 
home, and country, which were as dear to her 
as mine to me. 

Of all the house-servants, I thought the task 
of the cook was the most laborious. Though 
she did no other house-work she was obliged to 
do every thing belonging to the kitchen depart- 
ment, and that, too, with none of those con- 
veniences without which a Northern woman 
would think it was impossible for her to prepare 
a meal of victuals. After having cooked the 
supper and washed the dishes she goes about 
making preparations for the next morning's 
meal. In the first place she goes into the woods 
to gather sticks and dried limbs of trees, which 
she ties in bundles and brings to the kitchen on 
her head, with which to kindle the morning fire; 



124 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

to get as much fuel as she will want to use in 
preparing the breakfast she is often obliged to 
go into the woods several times. Wheii this is 
done she has all the corn to grind for the hommo- 
ny and bread, then the evening's preparations 
are completed. In the morning she is obliged 
to rise very early, for she has every article of 
food that comes on to the table to cook, nothing 
ever being prepared till the hour it is needed. 
When she has gone through with all the duties 
connected with the morning's repast, then she 
goes about the dinner, bringing fuel from the 
woods, grinding corn, etc. In this manner the 
cook spends her days, for in whatever depart- 
ment the slaves are educated, they are generally 
obliged to wear out their lives. 



LETTER XVIIL 

Cultivation of Rice — The Sweet Potato — Pea Nuts— Feeding 
of Swine — Garden Vegetables, Fruits, Flowers, Shrubs 
and Trees. 

Besides rice, I believe corn is the only kind of 
grain produced in the Southern part of Geor- 
gia, and this differs very much in the size of its 
kernel, color and taste from the kind which is 
used among us. The flour that is made from it 
is as white as our wheat flour, and makes much 
better bread than our corn. As no wheat is 
raised there, corn meal and flour are used in 
cooking almost every dish. It is served up in hom- 
mony, to be used as a vegetable with meat, gen- 
erally three times a day. On the plantations but 
a very little bread is used besides the corn bread, 
and this is prepared hot for every meal. In its 
growth it is very stout and tall, reaching to the 
height of eight or nine feet. I have been in 
corn-fields so extensive and the stalks so much 
above my head that I thought one might be in 
nearly as much danger of losing his way out 



126 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

as he would be in a forest he was unacquainted 
with. The Southern corn is much longer in 
coming to maturity than ours. It is planted 
two or three months earlier, and gathered about 
the same time. The next thing that is planted 
after the corn is the sweet potato. This vegeta- 
ble is of two kinds, called yams and slips. The 
yams are raised by planting the root in the spring 
as our farmers do the Irish potato, then when 
the tops of these are about six inches high, slips 
are cut from them and planted on another piece 
of ground. This is done on rainy days, or in 
the morning and evening, when the dew is on 
the ground. The potato obtained in this way is 
called the slip, and is long and slender in form 
while the yam is short and thick. Great quan- 
tities of pea-nuts are raised there, not only as 
an article for export, but to fatten swine upon. 
They are planted in the same manner as potatoes 
and when they have come to maturity the swine 
are turned in upon them to dig their own food. 
It is not usual for planters to feed their swine 
in any other way, and this only in the fall previ- 
ous to slaughter. At other times they procure 
their own food, either by digging roots in the 
woods, or hunting for snails and worms in the 
marshes. When they are fed the performance 
is attended to every day just between day-light 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 12? 

and dark. First, their suppers are all made 
ready for them, then a horn is sounded which 
occasions a truly swinish concert from every 
hole, nook and corner in the surrounding woods 
and marshes, from which one or two hundred 
of these noisy creatures might issue. It was 
strange to me they could so readily distinguish 
the horn that was sounded for them from the 
one that called the dogs to hunting ; but they 
perfectly understood the difference, so did the 
hounds. The cattle also in that region pro- 
cured their own sustenance, both in summer 
and winter, in the woods and swamps. It is 
common for one man to own one thousand or 
fifteen hundred cattle, all of which, except a 
very few, being too wild to come out in the open 
fields. In the summer season the slaves kin- 
dle little bonfires on the borders of the planta- 
tion every evening, around which crowds of 
cattle gather to escape the dreadful bite of the 
gallinippers, a kind of mammoth musquitoes. 
When a beef is to be killed, several men, 
mounted on fleet horses and followed by a pack 
of hounds, hunt them down as they would other 
wild game. Of all the productions of slavery, 
the cultivation of no one is attended with so 
much physical suffering and loss of life as that 
of the rice plant. This is owing to the circum- 



128 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 

stance of its being raised in a swamp overflowed 
with stagnant water. I never visited but one 
rice field, then I was obliged to go on horse- 
back, as it was inaccessible on foot, all the 
ground lying round about the field being cov- 
ered with mud and water. Rice grounds are 
those over which the tide flows, but to make 
them suitable for the production of this grain, 
the salt water is turned off by dikes, and over- 
flowed with fresh water, which soon stagnates 
in that hot country ; this is what makes these 
fields so unhealthy. Formerly, all the land 
bordering on the Savannah river, from its mouth 
up a good many miles, both on the Georgia and 
Carolina sides, was cultivated with rice; the 
consequence of which was those yellow fevers 
which proved so fatal to thousands in Savannah 
several years ago. Now the government forbids 
the cultivation of those grounds, and being 
cleansed and purified twice in the course of 
twenty-four hours by the rising of the tides, 
Savannah has become one of the most healthy 
cities on the Atlantic coast. The swamp I vis- 
ited was cut out in the heart of the woods, and 
the stumps of the trees were all standing among 
the rice stalks, which were then about five 
feet high and almost covered with water. 
When the rice is ready for harvesting, the 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 129 

water is drained off a few days before it is 
gathered. Musquitoes accumulate in these 
swamps beyond all conception. The few mo- 
ments I tarried at the field it seemed as if I 
should be devoured alive, and I believe those 
monstrous gallinippers, if they had an oppor- 
tunity, would have in a little while transformed 
myself and beast into mere skeletons. Yet 
in such horrible places as these, filled with 
pestilential vapors, scarcely less fatal than 
the deadly simoon of the desert, not only 
men, but thousands of poor, feeble, and half- 
starved women and girls, with flesh and blood 
like our own, are compelled by the lash to 
drag out their wretched and miserable, but 
short existence, merely to procure an article 
of diet for those of their brethren in the human 
family who were born with little fairer com- 
plexions. 

Melons of all kinds, the nicest and richest I 
ever saw, were raised in such abundance on 
the plantation where I was that they were 
brought from the field by cart loads. Their 
fruit consists principally of figs and oranges ; — ■ 
attempts have been made to raise the Northern 
apple, but with very little success; if they suc- 
ceed at all in raising apples, they will be crab- 
bed and spongy. Some planters try to cultivate 



130 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

the Irish potato, bat they are as miserable as is 
the sweet potato when it is cultivated here. 
Figs are raised in abundance in the Southern 
part of Georgia. This fruit, when fresh from 
the tree, is extremely delicious, and bears no 
sort of resemblance in taste, color, or shape to 
the same fruit when dried. When on the tree, 
it resembles in shape a bell pear, in color our 
purple grape. To preserve figs they are placed 
on tins, covered over with sugar, and dried in 
the sun. In beauty the fig-tree holds a high 
rank in the vegetable kingdom; its branches 
are long and slender, and all the lower ones 
reach the ground, while its broad, palmate leaves 
are so numerous that the tree not only forms a 
cool and shady covert from the sun, but also a 
safe retreat from wind and rain. I have often 
thought, while sitting beneath one of these 
beautiful trees, completely hidden from the view 
of those round about, that Nathaniel might well 
think that our Savior must be divine, if he saw 
him "when he was under the fig tree." Habak- 
kuk says, "Although the fig-tree shall not blos- 
som," but it is an anomaly in the vegetable 
kingdom that the fig-tree never does blossom. 
I have examined very closely the little stalks 
from which the fruit makes its appearance, arid 
I never could discover the least appearance of 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 131 

anything that resembled the organs of fructifi- 
cation. I suppose, however, they are contained 
in the fruit itself. Before closing this letter I 
will say a word or two about plants and flowers. 
In the Southern country we see a great many 
more flowering shrubs than we do here. Many 
plants that are annual here, and have soft fibrous 
stems, become perennial there, and their stems 
grow hard and woody. Geraniums almost be- 
come shrubs at the South. Some plants which 
we cultivate with care, as the chrysanthenum, 
are there regarded as noxious weeds. The 
prickly pear almost covers the uncultivated soil, 
and the colored people with their unshod feet 
often suffer very much in consequence of travel- 
ing among them. Among the forest trees, the 
different species of the laurel, as the bay tree 
and magnolia, might be considered as the pride 
of the woods. They all bear beautiful, large, 
white blossoms, even more fragrant than the 
pond lily ; and when they are in full bloom, they 
fill the air with their delicious fragrance. The 
leaves of the magnolia are large and lustrous, 
and I have often plucked them for sun-shades, 
and as long as they lasted found them equally 
as good as those manufactured of silk and whale 
bone. Many of the Southern forests are liter- 
ally hedged up with all kinds of tough vines, so 



132 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

interwoven among the trees that the woods in 
many places are utterly impenetrable. Many of 
these vines bear the sweetest flowers of every 
rich hue that can be described, literally forming 
a hedge of blossoms. Cedars are among the 
most common trees that grow in the open fields 
and on the banks of the creeks, and many have 
been the twilight hours I have spent among their 
dark shadows. 



LETTER XIX. 

Birds of the South — The Buzzard — Alligator — Deer Hunt- 
ing — Fishes. 

I should be doing violence to my own feelings 
if I did not honor the most lovely part of crea- 
tion with a place in my letters, not that I expect 
with my feeble powers to do justice to the 
downy singers of Georgia, but it surely would 
be wanting in respect, for me to pass them by, 
when I speak of so many other things belong- 
ing to the place. 

Of all the birds I ever heard sing, the mock- 
ing bird has the greatest compass of voice. 
This bird very much resembles our little ground 
sparrow in color; in size it may be a little 
larger. One would never suppose, just to see 
her, she could afford such rich entertainment as 
will at times pour forth from her little throat. 
I never heard them sing excepting in the night, 
and then their sweet melodious songs have kept 
me awake during many of the hours of darkness. 



134 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 

Some nights I have hardly closed my eyes in 
sleep before daylight began to dawn. During 
the day they generally concealed themselves in 
the woods, but when evening came, and every 
thing about the buildings was hushed and still, 
then they began to collect among the boughs 
that overshadowed my windows, and there for 
hours at a time, vie with other in variety and 
sweetness of strains. In the woods they will 
imitate every bird they hear. Sometimes they 
will draw around them flocks of birds by coun- 
terfeiting the soft tones of their notes, and then 
all of a sudden throw them into a terrible fright 
by screaming like a hawk. They will often 
lead the hunter astray by imitating the notes of 
the game he is in pursuit of. When she is do- 
mesticated she will not only make her little voice 
accord with every tone of the piano, but she 
will mock with precision every other sound she 
hears. Sometimes she she will cluck like a hen 
and a flock of chickens will be running in all 
directions to find their mother ; she mews like 
a hurt kitten, and old puss runs to see what has 
happened to her young ones ; at another time 
she will collect together a pack of hounds, 
which thought their master had called them to 
hunting. Not less sweet and charming, though 
not of that endless variety as those of the mock- 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 135 

ing bird, were the notes of the rice birds. The 
plumage of this bird was very beautiful ; the 
body being covered with feathers as black 
and lustrous as that of the raven ; the wings 
were nearly red, tinged with a golden col- 
or, and a tuft of yellow feathers ornamented 
its head. 

I have sat for hours at my window to see these 
gay birds clinging firmly to a slender twig at 
the utmost extremity of a branch, waving in 
the air at the slightest breath, while the more 
rudely the winds seemed to sport with their 
frail situations, the more widely they opened, 
their mouths to warble out a louder song. 
These songsters continued through the day, and 
when twilight came, the whip-poor-will ap- 
peared, to finish out the song, so we had our 
evening as well as morning music. 

In the latter part of the summer the rice bird, 
becomes very fat, then vast numbers of them 
are killed and served up on the table ; but it 
always seemed to me to be a sacrilege for us to 
gorge on such little sweet musical instruments ; 
to cut these little throats that filled the air with 
praises to God. 

The most useful bird in all the South, is the 
buzzard, more properly called the vulture. It 
is about as .large as our tame turkey, and is a 



136 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

very ugly, filthy-looking bird, though there are 
none more harmless. They are so useful in 
clearing the ground of all putrid flesh, that the 
public authorities impose a fine of five dollars 
upon any person who intentionally kills one of 
them. As they are never frightened by being 
fired at, they have become so tame they will 
enter the front yards, and perch upon the fences 
and the tops of houses and chimneys, and they 
can scarcely be driven away. I have counted 
thirty of them at one time sitting close together 
upon the paling enclosing the house. In no way 
are the buzzards more useful to places on the 
sea-board than in destroying alligator's eggs. 
It is said the buzzard perches upon the top of a 
tree and there watches the alligator when it 
comes up out of the water to deposit its eggs in 
the sand, then as soon as it returns to the river, 
he calls a great many other buzzards to the spot 
where they uncover the eggs and eat them. 
The alligator lays from one to two hundred eggs 
a year, and if a great many of them were not 
in some way destroyed, the whole coast would 
be so overrun with these terrible animals no one 
could live there. They came up in the creeks 
all about the plantation where I resided, and a 
gentleman told me they would often spring out 
of the water, and seize a dog, a swine, or a calf 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 137 

two years old, if any of these animals happened 
to be on the shore of the creek, and plunge with 
them into the deep water again. He said, also, 
little colored children had been caught in their 
ponderous jaws while playing on the shores. I 
have often seen their places of concealment 
when walking in damp places and near the 
marshes. The slaves caught one soon after I 
went on to the plantation, and dragged it up 
uninjured to the house. This one was about 
sixteen feet long, and its jaws not less than three 
quarters of a yard in length. A gentleman tried 
several times with a pistol, to shoot it, but the 
balls would bound from the scaly covering as 
soon as if they had been fired upon a rock. 
There are two places, however, just back of 
each eye that may be penetrated by a ball. 
Many of the plantations near the sea board are 
bordered on one, or all its sides, by extensive 
marshes, which are overflowed twice in the 
course of every twenty-four hours by the tide. 
In these marshes, thousands of birds, called 
marsh-hens, build their nests upon the ground, 
and when the tide came up and drove them 
from their eggs they would make the marsh 
resound with their cackling till one was nearly 
stunned. 



138 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 



Many large birds lived in the marshes by 
digging worms and snails. The largest of 
these are the gannet and " poor job." The 
gannet is a grey bird, with very long legs, neck, 
and bill, and about as large as the crane. 
The poor job is a good deal larger and as 
white as snow, with a long yellow bill about 
ten inches in length, and legs in proportion to 
its bill. The mourning dove is a solitary bird 
nearly as large as the robin, and of a light brown 
color. They seemed to keep aloof from all 
other birds, and were seldom seen in pairs. 
They had a very forlorn appearance, and their 
mournful cooing has given them the name of 
" Mourning Doves." Wild turkeys were very 
common in the woods, and were hunted a great 
deal, not only for the flesh, but as a source of 
amusement. 

Of all the amusements resorted to, at the 
South, by gentlemen, to pass away time, I 
always looked upon deer hunting, as one of the 
most cruel. When I saw half a dozen men on 
horse-back; followed by as many hungry hounds 
all in hot pursuit for one of those helpless and 
innocent animals, I always wondered how men 
could enjoy such sports. When closely pur- 
sued, they would often retreat to the planta- 
tions, and when I have seen them panting for 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 139 

breath, and almost dead with fear, shifting and 
turning, sometimes retracing their own steps 
to elude tha hounds, my sympathies were al- 
ways with the poor animals rather than the 
cruel hunters, and I always wanted to lend a 
helping hand to effect their escape. Deer hunt- 
ing days are always hailed as the most joyous 
and merry, and when the company was about 
setting out, the prancing of the horses and the 
barking of the hounds testified their eagerness 
to be in the chase ; but I never could see these 
preparations, without commiseration for the 
poor animals, at whose expense all this merri- 
ment was to be purchased. 

As I have a little more room in my sheet, I 
will say a few words about the fishes I saw 
while in Georgia. The most valuable of the 
finny tribes was the drum fish. These attain a 
very large size ; I have seen them as large as 
swine, weighing four or five hundred, and they 
somewhat resemble this animal. A good deal 
of danger attends the taking of them ; unless 
much precaution is used, they will upset the 
boat of the fisherman. The white fish, black 
fish, and even the cat fish, came on to the table 
as frequently as any other ; shell fish, such as 
the crab, shrimp, and prawns, were more salea- 
ble than those with fins. 



140 REMINISCENCES OP GEORGIA. 

Oyster banks were very numerous ; rising 
out of the rivers like a ledge of rocks, and 
when these banks occurr near the plantations 
the slaves are able to add a very valuable arti- 
cle of diet to their otherwise coarse food. 



LETTER XX. 

Sabbath at the South — Going to Church — Visit to a Ceme- 
tery — Service at Church — Refreshments— Stubbornness of 
a mule — Pastimes of Slaves. 

That my readers may have some idea of the 
manner of spending holy time at the South, I 
propose to relate in this letter some of the 
events as they occurred on one of the Sabbaths 
in July, while I was in the country, and this 
will give you a pretty good idea of the way of 
spending the Sabbath in general. But in at- 
tempting to do this, I am aware that I may show 
a picture that to New-England's daughters, who 
have been brought up within the sound of the 
church going bell, could hardly appear true to 
life. For even, after I had been there so long 
as to become somewhat accustomed to that mode 
of society, I often found it difficult to realize 
the return of holy time, so much labor was per- 
formed and so many kinds of amusements were 
indulged in ; but still I felt that I was culpable 
for losing sight for one moment of that day of 



142 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

rest, which seems to be a prelude to that long 
and everlasting rest which is in reserve for 
God's dear children ; for notwithstanding there 
was so little distinction made between the days 
of the week, it seemed as though there was 
something in nature itself, that said, " This is 
the Sabbath ; remember to keep the day holy ;" 
and so did it speak to me on the morning of 
that day, whose events I am now about to re- 
late, as I arose and threw aside my curtain to 
enjoy a rich view of the broad Atlantic, as it 
rolled and dashed its briny waters far upon the 
shore. 

Though nature was not silent, her voice was 
not the hum of a busy world, but a sublime an- 
them, sung as a prelude to the worship of this 
holy day, in which the lowing cattle made sweet 
harmony with the songsters of the groves, 
while the ocean's loud peal formed the bass to 
the whole ; and even the flowers, whose lan- 
guage is that of the deaf and dumb, seemed to 
lift up their heads and smile a welcome to the 
coming Sabbath. But I dwell too long upon 
the most pleasant, the most sacred part of the 
day, for the purpose I had in view when I sat 
down to write this letter, but I have done it be- 
cause it is so painful to reflect that the rising of 
that being from a night of sweet repose for 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 143 

whom the Sabbath was alone designed, should 
cause its violation, and now I almost regret that 
I have thought of exposing those customs and 
arrangements which so much interfere with a 
strict observance of the Sabbath ; but as I in- 
tended at the commencement of this letter I 
will begin with the morning. 

After the first duties of the day had been dis- 
charged,* which were, to serve up the morning 
repast, the family was called together (that is, 
the white portion of it,) to attend prayers, a 
ceremony, which, for want of time, could not 
be attended to on any other day of the week. 
This duty was succeeded by one, that by the 
spirit which accompanied it, I judged was con- 
sidered by the family the most important of the 
two. This was a loud exercise in scolding, and 
long enough to last all day, preparatory to the 
white people going to church, and the slaves 
staying at home to work or play according to 
the indulgence of the master. 

I never very well understood the philosophy 
of this kind of discipline, unless it was the same 
which prompts some men to beat their cattle in 
anticipation of what they may possibly do. 

The next thing that was to be done, was to 
assign to the house servants the various kinds 
of labor each must perform before he could be 



144 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 



allowed to play. Some were sent to churn the 
milk, some to grind corn, and others to the 
fields to prevent the depredations of jackdaws, 
a kind of birds that are equally as well skilled 
in the art of pulling up corn at the South as our 
crows are at the North ; and there instead of 
stuffing old coats and hats, to be a terror to all 
the birds, it is only necessary to command some 
half dozen colored boys and girls, and the cot- 
ton fields and corn fields are well supplied with 
the most effectual scare-crows. After all these 
duties had been discharged it was time for us to 
prepare for church. 

As all the plantations in that section of the 
country are five, ten, or fifteen miles from the 
place of worship, it was customary for people to 
go there in coaches ; but that day, as all the hor- 
ses on the plantation had been on a journey, I 
was either under the necessity of staying at 
home or be conveyed to church on the back 
of a mule, and being very fond of this kind of 
exercise, I chose the later alternative ; so in due 
time my mule was properly equipped, and when 
every thing was ready for our departure, I was 
glad to turn my face from the spot where old 
and young, boys and girls, servants and dogs, 
had all assembled to see how I should look going 
to church mule-back. 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 145 

On leaving the house my path to the high- 
way carried me across the plantation among nu- 
merous luxuriant fields of cotton, corn, and to- 
bacco ; and now will you suffer me to depart 
from my subject long enough to say, that I nev- 
er saw any thing in the vegetable kingdom more 
beautiful than an extensive cotton field in full 
blossom. The blossoms of the cotton plant are 
about as large as a half blown hollyhock, and 
red, or yellow, or white, according to the kind 
of cotton. The beauty of these fields is great- 
ly enhanced by high cultivation. The slaves 
watch over them with such paternal care, that 
every stalk seems obliged to grow to the same 
stature, and not a noxious weed ventures to 
show its head. 

Here, as I rode along, I had an opportunity 
to see a plenty of those human scare-crows I 
referred to a few lines above. One of these 
poor oppressed daughters of Africa roused my 
sympathies more than all the rest. I judged she 
was about the age of fifteen. Her form, instead 
of being thick and robust like colored girls in 
general, was slight and delicate. She was stand- 
ing in the open field, exposed to the intense heat 
of a July sun, with not a vestige of any thing to 
shield her head from its rays or her body from 
being scorched, but an old tattered garment, 



146 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 

she was trying to draw around her form, that 
was so amaciated the crows could not have been 
considered culpable if they had mistaken their 
prey. 

The first thing I saw after leaving the planta- 
tion, worthy of note, was a burying ground. 
Though a sight of these last resting places for 
all the living, must always cause the reflective 
mind to feel sad, I do not recollect of ever hav- 
ing a scene create such a feeling of desolate- 
ness as I experienced during the few moments 
I tarried to view this home of the dead. Per- 
haps the day and my own situation, being sep- 
arated from all my dear friends, contributed to 
these feelings in some degree ; but the place 
itself was one of dark shadows ; it was far from 
any human habitation, laid out in a dense dark 
forest of lofty pines, surrounded by a high brick 
wall once plastered but now almost overgrown 
with moss and vines. It was an ancient bury- 
ing ground, where the silent repose of its long 
forgotten dead had not been for ages disturbed 
by the sound of the spade or shovel. The 
gloomy cypress had been left to grow till its 
branches touched the graves it sheltered. The 
willows too, upon which the long grey moss of 
that country had been suffered to accumulate 
for ages, looked as though they hung their heads 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 147 

in sackcloth, and were the only beings left to 
mourn the fate of the departed. Here the 
whippoorwills, mistaking the gloominess of the 
place for evening, came and seated themselves 
upon the graves and shouted a requiem to the 
dead, while the midnight owl hooted from his 
hiding place among the old pines a warning to 
him who might intrude upon their silent repose. 
Though this place was enshrouded in gloom, I 
could have tarried there for hours ; and indeed, 
if I had, I should have received more instruc- 
tion than I did from the sermons J listened to. 

At length, having rode several miles further 
in the woods, I came to what the people in that 
country are obliged to call a church, but what 
we should call a barn, situated among the trees 
of the forest. This building was merely a frame 
covered slightly with boards, set up on four 
posts five or six feet from the ground, and hav- 
ing neither bell, cupola, or glass windows ; 
finally the most that can be said of it, is, that 
it was only a shelter on the Sabbath for those 
who went to church, and a great bird-house, 
where all kinds of the feathered tribes congre- 
gate on week days to sing songs and build nests. 

When I arrived I saw by the number of 
horses and carriages that were standing beneath 
the trees, that I was late to church ; I rode up 



148 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

to a stump in front of the house, dismounted, 
and when I had fastened my mule in nature's 
own stable, I went into the church. 

In that part of the country both the white 
people and colored people are seated upon the 
same floor, with only this difference, the white 
people sit nearest the pulpit. The services 
were conducted much as they are at the North, 
excepting the singing. As the slaves join in 
this part of the worship, and can not read, the 
minister to accommodate them only reads two 
lines of a hymn at a time, and when these are 
sung, he reads two more, and so on through 
the hymn. At the close of the morning ser- 
vice the white part of the congregation retired 
for refreshment to their seats in the woods erect- 
ed for this purpose. These places seemed jto be 
the general depot for all the news of the week. 
All letters and papers from the post office were 
distributed there, strangers introduced, and the 
state of the cotton market discussed, and, as in 
all other assemblies, the faults of neighbors 
slightly hinted at. While all sorts of news was 
in circulation, the servants at the same time 
were busy in passing round on trays those lux- 
uries provided for our physical wants, of which 
the heavens above and the waters beneath had 
not furnished a meagre part. Our repast being 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 157 

winter in great numbers, to cut the live oak 
for ship building. Through the instigation of 
these men, every slave on this plantation united 
in a plot to rise on a certain night and massa- 
cre every member of their master's family. 
The plot was revealed however, just in time to 
prevent the execution of the dreadful deed, by 
one old servant, who felt she could not stand 
and see her master and mistress and all the 
children murdered. 

In '35 deep measures for the same dreadful 
purpose were concerted in South, Carolina, ex- 
tending through that and several other contig- 
uous States. The time then fixed upon was 
Christmas eve, in order to prevent any mistake. 
In this case, thousands were saved from a dread- 
ful death by the warning one faithful slave gave 
to her master to take care of himself and fami- 
ly on Christmas night. Circumstances like 
these have excited so much fear among slave- 
holders, especially in the extreme South, where 
the plantations are large and slaves very numer- 
ous, they generally go armed with pistols or 
bowie knives. I have seen young men just on 
an equestrian excursion for an evening, conceal 
in their bosoms a brace of pistols loaded with 
balls, and others only going out a little distance 
in a gig, take with them their guns, and I had 



158 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

no reason to think that either had any other mo- 
tive in doing so than self-defense. I must say, 
myself, if the use of carnal weapons could ever 
be justifiable, I should think it was in this, for 
the same season not far from the plantation 
where I was staying, three white men were 
murdered while passing from one plantation to 
another, by slaves who nad secreted themselves 
for that purpose. 

Ladies even, under certain circumstances, 
provide for their own defense in the use of fire- 
arms. I have known ladies that would not 
dare to go to sleep without one or two pistols 
under their pillows. A lady in Savannah came 
very near being the executioner of her own hus- 
band in consequence of such a, custom. He 
had been from home on a journey, and wishing 
to give his wife an agreeable surprise, made 
his arrangements to return a few days sooner 
than she anticipated. Arriving at a late hour* 
for retiring, he thought he would make her sur- 
prise to see him still greater by appearing with- 
out the least warning in her own room. Ac- 
cordingly he succeeded in effecting an entrance 
into his house, by forcing a shutter in the base- 
ment, and with noiseless steps was making his 
way in the dark up to his wife's apartment. 
He had gone as far as the stairs, when that 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 159 

slight creaking which every one understands 
who has ever tried to walk stealthily in a noise- 
less house at night, reached her ears, and being 
prepared by every unusual sound to expect 
thieves and robbers, she sprang out of her bed, 
seized a pistol and commanding her chamber- 
maid to follow, she stepped into the hall and 
then towards the "stair case when she indistinct- 
ly saw the figure of a man cautiously approach- 
ing her. At the first sight she leveled her pistol, 
and the next instant would in all probability have 
fixed a bullet in his brain, had noj: one screech 
from the well known voice of her husband par- 
alized her hand for the moment and caused the 
deadly weapon to fall harmless at her feet. 

I think I have now said enough upon this sub- 
ject to convince you that slaveholders are by no 
means, with all their possessions, the happiest 
people in the world. Sin and iniquity are often 
accompanied by their own reward, but in this 
case this truth is strikingly apparent. 

Although it is now late in the evening and all 
around me are lost in the forgetfulness of sleep, 
still, as I see I have a little more room in my 
sheet I will trim my midnight lamp and add one 
more paragraph, though upon a subject a little 
different from the one contained in the first part 
of my letter. 



160 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

The question has often been asked me, can a 
person under any circumstances be justified in 
owning property in slaves. I will state two in- 
stances of persons possessing property of this 
kind, with which I was well acquainted in Au- 
gusta, Georgia, then leave the question to be 
decided by my readers. 

A large company of slaves had been brought 
from Virginia to Hamburg, which lies just be- 
yond the river over against Augusta. This 
place is the great slave market for both Georgia 
and South Carolina. Among these poor crea- 
tures who were mostly purchased for markets 
again still farther South, was one female with 
an infant at her breast. When it came her turn 
to stand under the hammer, the highest bidder 
would give no more for the mother with the 
child than he would without it. The auctioneer 
would not let the child go for any sum less than 
one hundred dollars, and as he could not dispose 
of the woman to a better advantage, he con- 
cluded to separate the mother and child and 
the former was dragged off to New Orleans. 
Finally after many fruitless attempts to sell the 
infant and the commiseration of a good many 
had been excited in behalf of the little sufferer, 
a lady in Augusta hearing of the circumstance, 
went over to Hamburg, paid the hundred dol- 



REMINISCENCES OP GEORGIA. 161 

lars demanded by the owner, and took the child 
home to her own bed and bosom. 

The other instance I thought of mentioning, 
was that of a gentleman from the North who 
had been in Augusta several years and up to the 
time of my story, although wealthy, had never 
purchased slaves, and was resolved he never 
would, on any condition, own property in hu- 
man flesh, and instead of purchasing help he 
hired it. When he began to keep house, he se- 
cured of a gentlemen who had slaves to hire out 
the services of one for a cook. This woman 
brought with her an infant child, and as she 
proved to be a faithful servant, she continued in 
the family of Mr. P., retaining her child with 
her till she arrived at the age of fifteen. About 
this time the owner of these slaves, having oc- 
casion to make out a sum of money, offered this 
girl for sale, and as she had been well trained 
and had a fine personal appearance, a satis- 
factory price was soon proposed for her, and the 
bargain ratified before Mr. P. was apprised of 
the matter. When the gentleman who had 
made the purchase came for her, the whole 
family was thrown into affliction. Mrs. P. had 
always retained her in her own immediate pres- 
ence, more in the capacity of a child than of a 
domestic, and she had never felt the oppressive 

K 



162 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

chains of slavery, and now the thought that she 
was to be dragged off, and consigned over to 
slavery, made her nearly frantic. Mr. P. made 
great efforts to repurchase her, contrary to his 
principles, but all to no purpose, and she was 
taken by main force, put into a carriage and car- 
ried away to a distant plantation. After sev- 
eral months, Mr. P. received a letter from this 
gentleman, saying the girl was so homesick, she 
was of no service to him, that she appeared to 
be wasting away every day, and if "he wanted 
the girl he might have her for the price he gave 
for her. Mr. P. did not allow many hours to 
elapse after receiving this intelligence, before 
he was on his way to bring her home. The last 
time I was in Augusta, I saw Lucy, and a hap- 
pier face I scarcely ever met. I will now ask 
one question. Would my readers purchase a 
slave under the same circumstances ? Accord- 
ing to the laws of Georgia she was safe no 
longer than Mr. P. held his claim upon her per- 
son as an article of property. 



LETTER XXII. 

Runaway slaves — The Swamps — Cruelty to slaves — A family 
in concealment — Murder of an old slave — Elopement of an 
Orphan Lady. 

Supposing jnany of my readers always associate 
the term " Runaway slave," with " Canada," or 
the " North Star," I will devote^ one letter to 
the purpose of showing them that there are 
thousands in the woods and swamps of the 
Southern States, who have fled from the galling 
shackles of slavery, that have never heard of 
Canada, or even learned to distinguish from alt 
the rest that one star which has to so many 
pointed out the way to the land of free and 
equal rights. 

It has been thought that there are as many 
south of " Mason and Dixon's line," who have 
escaped from their masters, as there are north 
of it. As strange as it may seem to those un- 
acquainted with these things, there are whole 
families secreted in the uncultivated portions of 
the slave States, who subsist year after only by 



164 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

plunder and stealing. To show you how this 
can be possible, I must give you a little idea of 
the situation of the Southern plantations, and 
the unimproved grounds belonging to each, that 
you may see the opportunity the slaves have 
to furnish themselves with hiding places. 

In the first place I will remark that the land 
at the South never becomes as extensively clear- 
ed of all its forest timber as in the Northern 
States, the reason of this is, the Southern plan- 
ter never resorts to any artificial means to en- 
rich the soil when once it becomes unproduc- 
tive ; the only way old and worn-out fields are 
ever improved, is by turning them wild and suf- 
fering them to rest for forty or fifty years, in 
which time the trees attain their full growth, 
and these fields once covered with cotton, corn 
and tobacco, assume again every appearance of 
native forest. 

During the time these grounds lie waste, the 
foliage from the trees and other kinds of vegeta- 
ble matter, which accumulates and decays from 
year to year, in course of time, renders the soil 
as rich and fertile as that which has never been 
cultivated. This is one reason why the South- 
ern country, although it has been settled longer 
than ours, always has the appearance of being 
a new country, just beginning to be settled, for 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 165 

all the land that is not ploughed and planted 
every year soon becomes a forest of pines. One 
accustomed to the growth of the pine, can judge 
very correctly by their size before they reach 
their full height, how long the field has been 
uncultivated. I have seen fields completely 
covered with little pines just springing from the 
ground, then others again where they had 
not grown to the height of a foot, in this case 
the soil has not been disturbed for about two 
years. When the sapplings are five or six feet 
m height, then one calculates the ground has 
not been cultivated for five or six years, and so 
on up to the time of the maturity of the trees. 
Then again, many of the planters own hun- 
dreds and even thousands of acres of land, 
which on account of their being swampy and 
infested with snakes and other venemous rep- 
tiles, they scarcely ever venture to explore, and 
when they do, it is only on horseback, when 
some occasion like hunting cattle and swine 
that run wild in the woods and swamps, calls 
them out, yet there are thousands of human be- 
ings who can find no other retreat from the 
cruel hound and knotted scourge, than in the 
pestilential swamps of the Southern States. To 
show how many provide for themselves in these 
lurking places, I will give you one account just 



166 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

as I had it from the same gentleman who him- 
self assisted in searching out one of these long 
lost families. 

This family consisting of nine persons disap- 
peared all of a sudden, and after many long but 
fruitless attempts to get some clue to their place 
of concealment, farther search was deemed 
useless, and all this property in human flesh and 
blood, was given up as irrecoverably lost. They 
were however at last found after they had been 
gone six years, by one of their number being de- 
tected in plundering from the plantation, and 
followed to his place of y rendezvous. The 
course they had taken to elude the search of 
the hounds, was to hide themselves where the 
ground was covered with water, consequently 
this cut off the scent of the hounds. These 
poor creatures after having gone several miles 
through deeply entangled swamps covered with 
Water to the depth of more than a foot, went 
to work to erect for themselves a little shelter. 

First they drove posts into the ground upon 
which they could lay a foundation above the 
water, then with branches of trees skillfully and 
ingenuously woven together, they constructed 
the floor, roof, and walls of this their most ru- 
ral habitation. To complete the structure they 
overlaid the whole with long marsh grass and 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 167 

the tough palmetto leaves, till it was quite com- 
fortable even during the winter season. The 
gentleman who gave me this account, said when 
he found them they had collected together a 
good supply of food of various kinds, such as 
meat, potatoes, meal, etc., as well as many 
other little domestic comforts. They even had 
a good supply of live fowls, but they had cun- 
ningly taken the precaution not to bring into 
the camp any of the feathered tribes whose loud 
voices might betray their place of concealment. 

Many secure themselves among the branches 
of trees as their best refuge from hounds and 
snakes, and wild beasts that prowl about in the 
night in search of prey. I have many times 
seen the tree in w r hich a slave was concealed six 
months. He had carried into the tree sticks of 
wood and broken branches, and so arranged 
them as to make a sort of platform, upon which 
he spread grass and leaves sufficiently thick to 
make a place of repose quite comfortable when 
wrapped in his blanket. He afterwards return- 
ed to his master of his own accord, and told him 
the men and dogs in pursuit of him, many times 
passed beneath the very tree where he was se- 
creted. 

The planters are greatly annoyed by the 
slaves who live in the manner above described, 



168 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 

coming out in the night to plunder every thing" 
they can lay hands upon. They kill their mas- 
ter's cattle and swine, they pluck the corn from 
the field and dig the potatoes from the ground, 
rob the poultry yards, brake into the milk house 
and even go into the same kitchen night after 
night, to cook their stolen vegetables and meat, 
You may ask where the watch dogs are all this 
time, when these depredations are going on in 
the fields and yards, and why the cook did not 
lock the kitchen door? In the first instance? 
those who are on theiving excursions, are care- 
ful to go where they are acquainted with the 
dogs. As to the kitchen, the very cook who is 
so loud in her vociferations about the operations 
that have been going on all night in her kitch- 
en, in all probability is accessory to the whole 
affair. 

As harsh treatment is more frequently the 
cause of the slaves running away than merely 
the desire for freedom, I will give you one ex- 
ample of that cruelty which scattered and drove 
into the woods almost one entire plantation of 
slaves, as I had the account from a friend who 
was herself a party concerned. 

Mrs. B. informed me that when she was at 
the age of ten, and her only sister sixteen years, 
they were left orphans with eighty slaves to be 



HEMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 169 

divided equally between them. Her sister soon 
married one of her many suitors, who had been 
attracted by so large a fortune. To secure to 
himself the property of both, Mr. S. succeeded 
in being appointed guardian over his wife's sis- 
ter, which gave him complete control over the 
whole. He very soon abused the power with 
which he had been invested by a course of 
treatment that proved him to be one of the 
most cruel of tyrants. Mrs. B. said he once 
beat a boy of about ten years of age till his 
steps for several rods could be, traced by the 
blood that issued from his lacerated back and 
limbs. Although she gave me many instances 
of her brother-in-law's cruelty to the slaves, I 
will only mention one more. 

Among the slaves that fell to Mrs. B.'s share, 
was one old woman, who had been, not only 
her nurse in childhood and infancy, but also her 
mother's. She had raised her mother and had 
had almost the entire charge of her from the 
cradle to the grave. She had taught her infant 
feet to walk and tongue to speak. She had 
soothed her childhood's sorrows, and from one 
season to another had carried her in her arms 
to and from the school room. In maturer 
years she had been her mother's counselor and 
comforter, standing by her bedside in sickness 



no 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 






and death, and her ever faithful hand smoothed 
the dying pillow and closed the eyelids for their 
long and lasting sleep. 

After the death of her mother, Mrs. B. said 
there was no person on earth dearer to her than 
was old Charity. This woman had never la- 
bored in the field till she came into the posses- 
sion of Mr. S., and being then very aged, and 
unaccustomed to that kind of labor, she often 
failed, for which she was like the rest cruelly 
beaten. One day after they had been on this 
plantation three or four years, Mrs. B. said her 
brother-in-law returned from the field in the 
forenoon about ten o'clock in great haste, and 
said he was called away to another town on * 
business of great importance and probably 
should not return for several days, and took 
his departure with so little preparation, as not 
only to excite in the family great curiosity, but 
a kind of apprehension of evil no one dared to 
express. He had not been gone many minutes 
when several slaves from the plantation, nearly 
out of breath, rushed into the house, saying, 
" master has killed old Charity." Mrs. B. said, 
with feelings that could never be told, they has- 
tened to the spot and found the dreadful intelli- 
gence too true. Her master had in the morn- 
ing driven this old feeble woman with the lash 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 171 

from her bed, when she was scarcely able to 
support her weight upon her feet. Fearing she 
would not labor when she was in the field, he 
went there to see, and not being satisfied with 
the manner she used the hoe, he gave her a blow 
upon the neck, and she fell dead at his feet. 
She was carried to the house and after these 
bereaved sisters had exhausted their strength 
mid sighs and tears, in vain attempts to resusci- 
tate that life that had been so precious to them, 
they gave up the body to be buried. After 
several days, the report having been circulated 
that this old slave had been murdered, several 
medical men came up and asked permission to 
have the body disinterred. It was granted and 
a post-mortem examination being held, it was 
found that her neck was broken. For a time 
this circumstance caused a good deal of excite- 
ment, but as Mr. S. could not be found, nothing 
was done. Finally the excitement died away, 
and as it was only a poor old slave, when the 
cruel tyrant did return, the whole matter was 
nearly forgotten excepting by his own family. 
Mrs. B. said, that by the time she was fifteen, 
there were but a few slaves left upon the plan- 
tation ; a good many had died of hardships, 
and others had fled to the woods, where being 
exposed to the pestilential miazma of the swamp, 



172 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

they suffered from fevers, or had their fingers 
and toes frost bitten till they were greatly mu- 
tilated, by exposure to the chilly atmosphere of 
Southern winter nights, and having an offer of 
marriage from Mr. B., although very young, she 
thought she would try to secure for herself a 
better guardian and for her slaves a kinder mas- 
ter. As soon as Mr. S. became apprized of her 
determination he was so enraged he locked her 
in her chamber and forbid her holding any com- 
munication with Mr. B. Through the assist- 
ance however of faithful servants, she found 
means to correspond with him, though to her 
peril, for every letter she received, if her broth- 
er-in-law found it out, he would go into her 
chamber with a cow-hide and beat her just as 
he did the slaves. Finally as soon as arrange- 
ments could be made, she consented to elope 
with Mr. B. and be married before her guardi- 
an should have time to veto such an act. Ac- 
cordingly the time of midnight was fixed upon, 
and she leaped from her chamber window into 
the arms of faithful servants who were there 
ready to hasten her away with the greatest 
possible speed to the carriage that was in wait- 
ing at the end of the avenue. She said some- 
times they actually carried her along without 
her feet touching the ground in their great fear 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. ] 73 

she might be overtaken by her guardian who 
was already on his way in hot pursuit. In a 
few hours they reached the spot where the mar- 
riage ceremony was to be performed, and just 
as the words were pronounced that made Mr. 
B. her lawful husband and guardian, Mr. S. 
rushed into the room and forbid the marriage, 
but too late, she was no longer exposed to his 
oppression, and in a few days she had all her 
slaves under a very different master. I was 
well acquainted with Mr. B., and I believe but a 
few slaves find a better one. TV use Mrs. B.'s 
own words, " and now many are the evenings 
that these old servants come in and sit with me 
till near midnight, talking over the sufferings 
we all endured from the hands of my brother- 
in-law." This depraved man lost every slave, 
all his property, his wife died, leaving him with 
two little girls who were in the Orphan Asylum 
when I taught there. Finally he fell into that 
state of mind similar to one who has the deliri- 
um tremens, and at last died such a frightful 
death, people shuddered to stand near his bed- 
side, all occasioned, as Mrs. B. believed, by re- 
morse of conscience. 

Before I close this letter, suffer me injustice to 
the good people of the South to say, that such 
cruelty is not countenanced by them any more 



174 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

than crime is by the same class of persons at the 
North, and when incidents such as I have just 
related do occur, they form for months the lead- 
ing topics of conversation in the sitting room 
and parlor, and wherever there is a little collec- 
tion of persons, the same as criminal acts do 
with us. 



LETTER XXIII. 

A visit in the country — A Southern kitchen — Pleasure ex- 
cursions — An equestrian scene. 

To-day an occurrence recalled to my mind a 
visit I received when in the Southern part of 
Georgia, from a friend who came from the 
North, and was like myself engaged in teaching 
in that country. My friend came and spent a 
week with me, and as the season we were 
together, was one of events and amusements to 
us both, I will give you some account of it, 
hoping it will furnish you with a few moments 
of entertainment, and at the same time enable 
you to see that in almost any situation, if per- 
sons are so disposed, there are many sources of 
pleasure to avail themselves of, even if they are 
strangers in a land that is not theirs, and far 
from all the sweet scenes of childhood's happy 
hours. 

Besides Miss S., there was no other person 
in all that section of the country with whom I 
ever had a previous acquaintance ; the same 



176 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

was true also in respect to my friend. Though 
we were situated at a distance of six miles from 
each other, we found opportunities for frequent 
interviews, though many of them were but of a 
few moments' duration. To understand the 
import, in all its force, of the expression,*" birds 
of a feather flock together," you must be situa- 
ted just as we were, surrounded by those who 
had but a few sentiments and interests in com- 
mon with our own. It was only in each other's 
society we ever felt at home. Yes, those were 
angel meetings when we could escape from 
every watchful eye, and alone and undisturbed, 
where only squirrels chattered, and the birds 
sung, heart could meet heart, and voice mingle 
with voice in sweet and hallowed communion. 

" Oh ! I remember, and will ne'er forget 
Our meeting-spot, our chosen, sacred hours, 
Our burning words that uttered all the soul." 

A few weeks previous to the visit I am about 
to describe, my friend had been brought very 
low by a fever. As soon as she recovered suffi- 
ciently to ride out, I sent for her to come and 
spend a few days with me, thinking she would 
recover more rapidly if she could be with some 
one a short time who would try to cheer up her 
gloomy spirits, that had become very much 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 177 

depressed by a long illness, through which, she 
had been surrounded only by strangers, and 
besides I had the most implicit confidence in 
yankee nursing, and I was anxious to test its 
efficacy in the case of my friend. She received 
my invitation with great pleasure, and in the 
course of two or three days I had the privilege 
of trying the potency of my skill in the restora- 
tion of the wasted energies of the physical being 
as well as in dispelling the dark clouds that 
hung about the mental. I soon learned after 
her arrival, that she had since her illness, suffer- 
ed much from want of that kind of food she 
could relish. Nothing that the cooks there 
could suggest, would in the least tempt her ap- 
petite. She only could think of some dish she had 
been accustomed to at the North, and after the 
best directions that could be given, it would be 
prepared altogether different from what it would 
have been, if served up by a Northern cook. 
Finally, after a considerable consultation upon 
a matter of so much importance, I told her I 
would go to the kitchen myself, and prove my 
abilities in the cooking line. But I never was 
more disheartened about any undertaking of the 
kind than this, when I found myself surrounded 
by such an extensive array of culinary appara- 
tus as is always furnished for a Southern kitch- 
h 
■ 



178 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

en. Now if you will suffer me to turn aside 
from my story a little while, I will tell you 
something about a kitchen on a Southern plan- 
tation. 

In the first place, this was built of large, 
rough logs, the ends of which were standing 
out in all shapes and at different distances on 
all its corners. At one end was an immense, 
but low chimney, not much higher than the 
roof of the building, built of sticks and mud and 
the opening at the top was of such great extent 
one would have the impression, when in the 
kitchen that a part of the roof was gone. On 
one side was a wide opening which was used 
both as a door and windows. Within I found 
tubs, pails, keelers, piggins, pots, kettles, spiders, 
Dutch ovens, wafer-irons, and every thing else 
one could think of belonging to such an apart- 
ment, all in one room not over fifteen feet square. 
After making a few observations upon this 
homogeneous collection of iron and wooden- 
ware, I concluded to leave the cook in the quiet 
possession of her own sanctum, and do my 
cooking in the open air. I apprised my friend 
of my sage determination, and told her she 
could seat herself before the window, and be 
an eye-witness of the operations that were 
then in contemplation, and if I judged correctly 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 179 

the effect of the scene upon her health was as 
salutary as the supper itself. 

The next day Miss S. was able to walk out, 
and we commenced a series of excursions that 
lasted through the week, our good host in the 
mean time so providing for our accommodation 
that we had at our command, horses and mules, 
saddles and carriages, boats and rowers to be 
used at our discretion or pleasure. Of course, 
we tried them all; we rode horseback and 
muleback, in carriages with servants and with- 
out them, we sailed the creeks, caught fishes 
and cooked them, very much to the amusement 
of the servants who beheld all our operations 
with perfect amazement and could only account 
for the whole on the principle that we were 
yankees and of course would do a great many 
unaccountable things. 

I shall never forget the merriment our first 
horseback ride occasioned among the servants. 
As my friend was very timid in the manage- 
ment of a horse, I requested that two of the 
most gentle saddle beasts should be brought to 
us that afternoon. Accordingly, Peggy and 
Van Buren were soon saddled and waiting our 
pleasure before the gate. 

I might as well say here, that it is quite as 
customary at the South to give names to all 



ISO REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

their horses, mules, oxen and cows, as it is to 
the hounds and dogs. I have often been puz- 
zled to know, when I have heard old Peggy or 
Sally spoken of, whether the conversation refer- 
red to a mule, a cow, or a woman. Sometimes 
my ears have just caught the isolated word Van 
Buren, and it was impossible for me to tell, 
which was meant, a horse, an ox, or the Ex- 
President of the United States. This time? 
however, we understood the term Van Buren 
to mean a noble animal of the horse kind, and 
Peggy an old grey mule with exceedingly long 
ears which seemed to stand up unusually erect 
that afternoon. 

These two animals were so accustomed to go 
together and were so attached to each other, 
that although the universe could not have per- 
suaded old Peggy to take the lead one inch, yet 
she would have followed Van Buren if he had 
gone over the top of the house. But unfortu- 
nately for our ride that afternoon, I found my 
friend too much in the condition of old Peggy, 
though from a cause altogether different. One 
was under the influence of a mulish will, the 
other, that of fear. After we were seated upon 
our animals, Miss S. upon the back of Van 
Buren and myself upon Peggy, I found she 
was as much afraid to make the first move in 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 181 

advance, although having at her command a 
beast willing to go at her bidding, as my mule 
was determined she would not take one step 
first. I never felt myself in such a comical 
predicament before. I exerted my persuasive 
powers to the utmost to induce Jane to ex- 
change beasts, but all my persuasions and argu- 
ments were nothing to her, whenever she looked 
at those great ears that stood up so high before 
me, and there we sat, surrounded by a large 
concourse of men, women, boys and girls, who 
made the plantation resound with their shouts 
of laughter at our expense. Even the dogs 
looked as though they wanted to laugh as loud 
as their masters. At last one of the servants 
took my mule by the bridle, and led her out a 
little distance on the plantation, Van Buren 
following in the rear ; but no sooner had he let 
go his hold upon the bridle, than in direct 
opposition to all that I could do, she would 
turn right about, and go back to the gate again, 
with a great deal more speed than she went 
from it, Jane, of course, following all the time, 
most obediently. Finally, all the ride we had 
that afternoon, was just in semicircles, never 
getting further than a couple of rods from the 
house. The next time we contemplated an 
equestrian excursion, we succeeded a little bet- 



182 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 

ter, for we had the precaution to leave Peggy 
out of the company. 

At the distance of about six miles from us in 
an opposite direction to the plantation where 
my friend Miss S. was teaching, was a Southern 
lady who was also engaged in the same voca- 
tion. Out of nineteen female teachers who 
were located in that section of the country, 
when I was there, she was the only native 
teacher ; all the rest were from the North. If 
you ask how she would compare with Northern 
teachers in qualifications for such a station, I 
would answer, by no means unfavorably. Her 
intellectual attainments and personal accom- 
plishments were of a high order. During this 
week, our Southern friend who had heard we 
had dismissed our schools for a vacation, dis- 
missed hers also, for a few days, and sent us an 
invitation to come and spend a day with her. 
According to the general practice of that coun- 
try when a ride is to be taken in the Summer 
season, we were up early the next day, and 
started on our way long before the morning 
flowers had faded, or the dew had disappeared 
from the leaves. Never did I enjoy a morning 
ride more than this. It was just at that season 
of the year when the woods of Georgia were 
decked in their utmost loveliness, and the open 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 183 

fields were waving with luxuriant crops of grain 
cotton and tobacco, in full bloom. 

From all directions echoed the merry laugh 
of the refreshed and invigorated slaves now 
going to their morning tasks. The young men 
arrayed in their sea-green hunting garbs were 
busily engaged in collecting their rifles, balls and 
powder, for a deer-hunt, while the horses already 
at the gate, impatiently pawed the ground at 
the sound of the bugle and barking of the 
hounds that always accompany the prepara- 
tions for a hunting day. After, leaving the 
house we went about one mile on the open 
plantation before we entered the avenue that 
led to the highway. This path was about a 
mile in length, and so narrow, and the branches 
of the trees so low, we often got sprinkled with 
the heavy dew that was still on the trees, if we 
were so careless as to let our bonnets touch a 
bough. The highway between the plantations 
was one complete arch of lofty oaks and giant 
cypresses, crowned from their roots to the top- 
most branches with the woodbine, honeysuckle 
and trumpet-flowered jessamine, all in blossom, 
rendering the atmosphere deliciously fragrant 
with their sweet odors, while multitudes of 
birds with every variety of gay plumage, made 
the woods vocal with their early music. Though 



184 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

we had prolonged the time of our morning ride 
as much as possible for the purpose of enjoying 
the beauties around us, still we found ourselves 
at an early hour before the gate of the planta- 
tion where we were to spend the day, and were 
cordially met at the carriage by those who even 
then had been waiting our arrival with fears 
that we were not coming. The situation of 
this plantation was more pleasant than that of 
any one I ever saw on a Southern sea-coast. 
In my next letter, I will give you a little ac- 
count of it. 



LETTER XXIV. 

A plantation on the sea-coast — Different kinds of trees — Ri- 
sing of the Tide — A storm — Return from a visit. 

The plantation to which I alluded in my last 
letter, was bounded on the North and West by 
a forest of the oak, cypress, and long-leaved 
pine, with which were beautifully mingled the 
dogwood tree, bay, laurel and magnolia. The 
Southern dogwood bears a little white flower 
very much like the wild rose ; it puts forth its 
blossoms before the green leaves appear, and 
they so completely cover the tree that at a dis- 
tance it strikingly resembles our New England 
trees when loaded with snow in the winter. 
The magnolia is about as large as a full-grown 
pine and a few rods distant it might be mistaken 
for one, on account of its height. The blossom 
of the magnolia is of a cream color, the corrolla 
bell-form, and about as large as a pint measure. 
When the tree is full of these blossoms it pre- 
sents a most beautiful appearance. The flowers 
are very fragrant, and I have known one tree to 



186 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 



fill the air with their sweet perfume for more 
than half a mile in every direction. The bay 
and laurel belong to the same class of trees as 
the magnolia, but of different species. All the 
difference I could discover between them con- 
sisted in size. 

On this plantation I had an opportunity for 
the first time to see what was to me a great 
curiosity in the vegetable kingdom. This was 
the cabbage-tree, or more properly in botanical 
language, the " cabbage palmetto." I could 
call it nothing more nor less than a huge cab- 
bage, consisting of two parts only, the body 
twenty or thirty feet in height, and perhaps a 
foot and a half in diameter, surmounted by an 
enormous head of coarse large leaves snugly 
rolled up like our garden cabbage, and ten to 
twelve feet in diameter. I have been told that 
the leaves in the middle of the head are often 
served up on the table, and could hardly be dis- 
tinguished from the common cabbage. These 
trees I have since heard are very common in 
Florida. Their trunks are filled with the same 
kind of vegetable matter that composes the 
heart of the garden cabbage stump. 

On the South and East the plantation was 
bounded by a beautiful green marsh which sep- 
arated it from the Atlantic. Every where 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 187 

through this meadow, quietly crept the clear, 
smooth creek, advancing and. retreating in its 
serpentine course, sometimes coming very near 
the plantation, then softly retracing its path, 
till finally its waters are mingled with the 
parent fountain. This creek was navigable 
for sloops which were constantly coming and 
going laden with imports and exports to and 
from the plantation. These articles of mer- 
chandize were landed at a small wharf but a few 
rods from the house. Fishing boats and canoes 
in various directions moved leisurely among 
these green meadows, and flocks of wild geese 
and ducks appeared as if propelled by some 
magic power, as they sailed upon these still 
waters with so little apparent motion. No 
scene of the kind was ever to me fraught with 
so many rural beauties, perfectly enchanting to 
the eye as well as ear as this, for in addition to 
that sweet music from the trees, with which 
the singing birds of Georgia are ever ready to 
regale the ear, such melodious strains trom the 
bugle, the violin and the harp, often issued from 
these little barques, that one could not feel it 
would be compromising the dignity of Orpheus 
to suppose he had resumed his harp again. Be- 
tween these streams of water, fowls of the 
gralic order, the bittern and crane, " with bills 



188 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

engulphed, shook the surrounding marsh " in 
gathering from the muddy soil their snails and 
worms. 

This plantation was nearer to a level with 
the ocean than perhaps any other on the coast 
of Georgia. This circumstance in part accounts 
for the distressing event that occurred there, 
several years previous to the time we were 
there, to the family of the lady with whom we 
were spending the day. Mrs. G. informed us 
that a few years subsequent to the time they 
took up their residence on this plantation, the 
sea rose one night to the distance of ten or 
twelve feet above the ordinary height of the 
Spring tide, a phenomenon that had never to 
their knowledge previously occurred on the At- 
lantic coast. At first, they only beheld the tide 
rising to an uncommon height, with surprise, 
but when they found the water was overflowing 
that part of the plantation the tide had never 
reached before, they began to feel alarmed, and 
this alarm increased, as Mrs. G. said, to a con- 
sternation that could not be described, when 
white people, children and servants, all saw the 
waters with a rapid course still upwards, reach- 
ing their own doors. Then one thought only 
pervaded the minds of all, which was to escape 
to a little eminence at the distance of one or 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 189 

two miles. Then almost instantly women and 
children flew from their dwellings, plunged 
into the tide two or three feet deep, hoping to 
save their lives by securing this rise of ground, 
but soon, the waters rose with such great rapid- 
ity, all hope was abandoned of reaching the spot 
excepting by those who could swim, or had in 
the first place been thoughtful enough to secure 
some of the boats, of which there are generally 
a good supply upon those plantations abounding 
with creeks. 

By this thoughtfulness many of the slaves 
saved their lives. Mrs. G. said her husband and 
herself started with their three children, carry- 
ing the two youngest in their arms, while the 
oldest trying to follow on foot was soon swept 
away by the flood. Finding after they had 
gone a few rods that it was useless for them to 
try to stem the current any longer, they as- 
cended a high stump with their children in their 
arms, still the course of the waters was upwards 
and about midnight it reached their chins, then all 
hope of life was lost, they were nearly exhaust- 
ed, they had but little strength to resist the 
mighty waves that swept over them, and the 
little ones they had till then, held in their arms 
were carried away by the raging billow. Mrs. 
G. said herself and husband stood in that situa- 



190 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

tion, with their heads just out of the water, till 
the morning began to dawn. The flood rose 
no higher than this and by the following noon 
the tide had entirely subsided, and they were 
enabled to return to their house. Only a few rods 
from where they spent the night, these bereaved 
parents found the bodies of all their children. 
A good many of the slaves were drowned, and 
their bodies left upon the dry ground on various 
parts of the plantation, as also the bodies of 
swine, cattle, hosres and mules. 

Mrs. G. always wore a melancholy counte- 
nance, and she often said to her friends, she 
could never again be that cheerful happy wo- 
man she was previous to that dreadful night. 

A circumstance took place during the after- 
noon of the day we were visiting this plantation 
that first taught me how the land at the South 
is cleared of its timber when needed for cultiva- 
tion, and as a little information upon this subject 
may be interesting to you, I will speak of it in 
this place together with an incident with which 
this information will always be associated in my 
own mind. When a piece of forest is to be 
brought under cultivation at the South no other 
labor is required but to clear the spot of all 
the underwood, girdle all the large trees, then 
plough and plant the ground. I have seen slaves 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 191 

planting cotton on these grounds when they 
were so much shaded by the thick foliage of the 
trees, that was still green, one would think their 
labor must all be lost. But by the time the 
seed has vegetated, and the plant ready to ap- 
pear above ground, the foliage is generally 
withered and fallen, and the first crop produced 
from such a field is usually the most abundant. 
The trees left standing in this way are never 
removed till they become so decayed as to fall 
off themselves, or are thrown down by heavy 
winds. As soon as this occurs, they are taken 
away one by one, till the field is free from tim- 
ber, but it requires a good many years to clear a 
plantation in this way. Nothing is more com- 
mon at the South than to see hundreds ol 
acres of land covered with these ghostly looking 
trees stripped of their bark and leaves stretching 
out their naked limbs as if imploring pity for 
their forlorn condition. At a distance a forest 
of these old dead trees very much resembles an 
extensive Navy Yard with its thousand of tall 
masts and its yards extending in all directions. 

No sight presents a more gloomy aspect in 
the night than one of these decaying forests. 
Whenever I have found myself in the evening 
surrounded by these spectre-like objects, I have 
invariably experienced the same kind of sensa- 



192 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 



tions one feels while walking at the same gloomy 
hour among the tombstones of a church-yard. 
When these trees have become a good deal de- 
cayed, it is very unsafe to be within their reach 
during a heavy gale of wind. It greatly adds 
to the terror that always accompanies a tem- 
pest of wind and rain to hear those giant oaks 
and pines falling in all directions with one 
dreadful crash after another, till it would almost 
seem that the heavens above were tumbling to 
the ground. The Southern States are subject 
to such violent winds and the soil is so light and 
sandy, that it is not a few, also, of the live trees 
that are upturned from their roots during these 
gales. I have lain hour after hour on a stormy 
night in breathless silence, through fear that the 
next heavy blast would prostrate upon the roof 
above my head the very tree that in the day- 
time sheltered my window from the scorching 
sun. 

During the afternoon of the day I have been 
speaking of in this letter, one of these dreadful 
storms arose, and this was the first time we 
ever witnessed one of these terrimc scenes. 
Contrary to our expectation, after the storm 
came up the wind ceased, and the rain so far 
abated towards evening, though the clouds still 
looked ominous, we were encouraged to turn 






REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 193 

our faces homewards. Accordingly we set 
out, little dreaming of the trouble we should 
have to encounter on a dark evening with- 
out any one to protect us, for in the morning we 
had refused a driver in order to enjoy our ride 
without the embarrassment a third person usually 
occasions. Although the evening was very dark, 
we proceeded on our way for a considerable dis- 
tance without any difficulty, but how greatly had 
the scene changed in the course of a few hours. 

In the morning all was music, pleasure and 
sunshine; in the evening there was no pleasant 
light to cheer our path, and no sound to greet our 
ears save the screeching of the owls and the croak- 
ing of frogs. After we had left the highway and 
gone a few rods in the avenue that lead to our 
home, all of a sudden our carriage stopped, but it 
was impossible for us to see from what cause, so 
great was the darkness that surrounded us. 

On leaving the carriage I immediately found 
that the gale in the afternoon, had thrown 
across our path a huge pine, for a few moments 
we were completely at our wit's end. We could 
not go forward, and the road was so narrow, 
it was impossible for us to turn the carriage 
round to go back. We soon decided there 
were but two alternatives. One of us must go 
to the plantation for assistance, the other stay 



194 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

with the carriage. My friend said she would 
choose the least of evils to her, and in a few 
moments I heard her retreating footsteps in 
that dark place, with fears for her safety that 
almost caused me to forget my own. For more 
than an hour I held by the bridle the beast that 
was attached to our carriage, with as great 
a degree of excitement as my physical strength 
was able to endure. Every moment he became 
more and more furious in consequence of the 
dreadful biting of the gallinippers that seemed 
as if they would devour us alive. I received 
several blows from this tortured animal, in his 
attempts to brush away these insects that would 
have thrown me to the ground if it had not been 
for my hold upon the bridle. At length I heard 
in the far off distance the barking of the hounds 
that were accompanying the servants to my 
relief. Never did a more grateful sound fall 
upon my ears, than was the one that assured 
me that dark night that assistance was so near 
at hand. In the course of a couple of hours I 
met my friend at the house, where we received 
the hearty congratulations of the whole family 
that we had met with nothing worse than a severe 
fright. It is now several years since I have seen 
my friend, but we have never forgotten the week 
we spent together on a Southern plantation. 



LETTER XXV. 

Schools in Georgia— Public Examinations-^A Barbacue-^ 
Macon Female College. 

Among the many evils that arise from the pecu* 
liar institutions of the South, I look upon those 
which are connected with the present system of 
education as by no means the least to be de- 
plored. As long as slavery exists, I can not see 
how education can be universally diffused even 
among the white population. On the other 
hand, the legislators of the South are fully 
aware that as soon as means are taken for the 
promotion of education among all classes as at 
the North, a most effectual blow has been given 
to slavery. The reason why slavery has existed 
until the present time, is owing in a great de- 
gree to the ignorance of so large a proportion 
of the white people. If the free people of the 
South had as a general thing, education suffi- 
cient to enable them to read and write with 
ease, the slaves, who must necessarily come in 
frequent contact with them, would soon acquire 



196 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

the same knowledge. Even now, it is but a 
small proportion of the white servants that be- 
long to educated families, who cannot read a 
little and write at least their own names. 

As I have said before, each child has its own 
servant, who is always a few years its senior. 
This servant is not only a kind of body-guard 
and waiter, but a companion of private hours 
and an assistant teacher during the school days 
of his young master. It is frequently the case 
that a lesson that is to be given to the pupil is 
first taught to the servant, whose duty it is to 
repeat it to his infant master, till it is thoroughly 
committed to memory. Those who have ever 
had the care of children, very well know how 
readily they imitate and catch words and expres- 
sions from each other. Such is the case at the 
South among the children of the educated and 
the slaves. While the former, previous to going 
to school, are repeating over and over again 
lessons in reading, spelling, grammar, and geog- 
raphy, the latter are curious and eager listeners, 
and generally, by the time the lesson is called 
for, those who stay at home are as well prepared 
for recitation as the class who go to the school 
room. 

Now if the mass of free people at the South 
were as well informed as they are in New Eng- 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 197 

land, the slaves would soon acquire sufficient 
knowledge to enable them to realize their situa- 
tion and power, and the consequence would be 9 
they w 7 ould lay plans to unite their strength 
and free themselves and their posterity from 
the oppression of slavery. 

But it is much easier to criticise the present 
school system of the Southern States than to 
suggest plans that would improve this system, 
and at the same time meet with a favorable re- 
ception from those whose interests must neces- 
sarily be affected either for the better or worse 
by any change. 

The great expense that attends an education 
in the Southern States, has placed an impassable 
barrier between the rich and poor. It has been 
so, that the wealthy only were educated, and 
this is true now in the country. Within a few 
years, however, cities have been at the expense 
of supporting some free schools, but in the 
slave States the term " free schools" is synony- 
mous with "schools for poor people," Though 
these institutions prove a great blessing to 
many, still the odium attached to them prevents 
many more from availing themselves of the 
privileges they afford. Among a certain class 
the feeling prevails, that it is quite as reputable 
not to have an education, as to have it said they 



198 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 

were educated at a free school. Even teachers 
often shrink from incurring the stigma of teach- 
ing in these institutions. 

This state of things as deplorable as it is, 
must continue till common schools are recog- 
nized and provided for by law as at the north. 

In the country, where the plantations are so* 
large, families are separated at the distance of 
several miles from each other. Education was 
formerly confined to those whose wealth ena- 
bled them to support private teachers at a great 
expense. Consequently many in affluent cir- 
cumstances made no attempts to educate their 
children. But now efforts are being made by 
planters in various parts of Georgia to collect 
together in little communities during a portion 
of the year, in order to unite their funds in 
sustaining select schools and academies. This 
arrangement has been the means of establish- 
ing a great many excellent schools, for the 
education of those children whose parents have 
sufficient property to constitute them respect- 
able citizens, and many of this class now enjoy 
the privileges of education, that they did not 
when teaching was confined to families. 

In order to secure the advantages of society, 
many of the planters now, who live within the 
compass of twenty, thirty, or forty miles, select 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 199 

some healthy spot among the sand hills and 
there congregate and erect their summer resi- 
dences, a church, academy, and other public 
buildings. Then the prospect of school and 
church privileges, soon attract to such a village 
mechanics, traders, and professional men, who, 
as they have no occasion, like the planters, to 
retire for the winter, sustain the schools and meet- 
ings and other forms of society through the year. 

These schools are prized so highly, and pa- 
rents, who themselves have never been educated , 
witness the progress their sons and daughters- 
make from year to year in the various sciences they 
are pursuing, with such delight, they are ready to 
incur a great expense for the purpose of enter- 
taining those who will often travel the distance of 
one hundred miles to attend their examinations. 

These annual exhibitions usually occur on the 
fourth and fifth of July, at which time the peo- 
ple are entertained with speeches, orations, and 
public songs, in addition to the exercises of the 
school, at the same also they are treated to a 
" barbacue," a term that means at the South, 
one or more swine roasted whole. 

These feasts are prepared and given in the 
woods in a most, rural manner. 

Animals cooked in this way are generally 
undergoing the roasting process, at least one 



200 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 



night previous to their being served up. Pits 
are dug in the ground and then filled with live 
coals, which are frequently renewed from an- 
other great fire at a little distance kept con- 
stantly burning for that purpose. 

At a convenient distance from this scene of 
preparation, a sufficient number of tables to 
accommodate hundreds, are provided with every 
luxury that it is possible to furnish in the coun- 
try. The last course at these entertainments 
is usually made up of healths to friends, songs, 
toasts, and speeches upon political or scien- 
tific subjects, according to the pleasure of the 
speaker. 

This practice of leaving the rich and conse- 
quently unhealthy soil during the summer sea- 
son which the planters are obliged to select in 
order to have productive plantations, has proved 
to be so effectual in promoting the health of 
their families, that setting aside all the extra 
privileges it affords them, it is decidedly a mat- 
ter of economy to be at the expense of moving 
twice every year. Every planter of course 
makes an effort to secure the richest soil, but in 
doing this, he is obliged to take with it an atmo- 
sphere productive of fevers and agues and in- 
fected with a miasma that in the summer season 
would prove nearly as fatal to a stranger as the 



REMINISCENCES OP GEORGIA. 201 

deadly simoom of Sahara. The slaves, who are 
not so readily affected by these unhealthy influ- 
ences as the white people, remain on these 
plantations through the year. 

In the winter, as this is the time for the pick- 
ing, ginning, and packing of the cotton for mar- 
ket, the oversight of this work constantly needs 
the vigilant eye of the master, consequently as 
soon as this kind of labor commences, he is 
obliged to move back to the plantation and 
remains there till the time of planting returns 
again. I have known gentlemen who went 
regularly three times a week to their planta- 
tions, through the summer season, at the dis- 
tance of twenty miles. 

It is quite common now, too, for the children 
and youth who attend these schools to board at 
home when they live at no greater distance than 
from four to six miles. I have myself boarded 
at the distance of four miles from the school 
room, and would always prefer to do so under 
the same circumstances, and with the same 
company of jolly school girls. 

Little girls will ride four or five miles every 
day on horse-back to attend school, and con- 
sider it no more of an hardship than children at 
the North do to walk half a mile for the same 
purpose. They always set out on their little 



202 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

journeys early in the morning, taking their din- 
ner with them, and do not return till the cool of 
the evening. 

The mules and horses that convey them to 
and from school twice every day soon become 
so accustomed to their tasks, and the childish 
freaks of their riders, they are as docile and 
easily managed as sheep. If a hard lesson is to 
be studied a little more before recitation, it can 
be done just as well on the way to school as any 
where else, tor without the least guidance, these 
faithful animals would take their previous bur- 
dens directly to the academy door, or if a bird's 
nest is to be hunted or a few choice flowers col- 
lected for an herbarium, they are equally obe- 
dient to the will of their youthful riders. 

As a general thing, pupils at the South are 
not as far advanced in intellectual attainments 
at the ages of ten and twelve as the same class 
of students at the North. This can be ac- 
counted for from the circumstance that chil- 
dren there are not put into schools at as early 
ages as they are with us, but as far as my ex- 
perience goes, when they are brought under 
good intellectual culture, their minds are more 
vigorous and intellectual developments more 
rapid, than has been the case with children of 
the same age I ever had the care of at the North. 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. Jj03 

For the encouragement of those of my read- 
ers who may be expecting to locate themselves 
as teachers in the Southern States, I would say, 
that of all my pupils both at the North and 
South, who were of the same age and have 
made the greatest progress in their studies in 
the same given time, and who have evinced the 
greatest enthusiasm in the various sciences they 
were pursuing, and especially in the study of 
the Bible, they have been among the dear youth 
I have had the privilege of teaching in Georgia, 

While as a general thing the Southern States 
are far behind the age in popular education, still 
they can boast of some of the finest literary 
institutions in the United States. To say no- 
thing of the medical schools, law schools, and 
colleges for young men, many of which every 
one who knows any thing about them is ready 
to acknowledge have always taken a stand in 
the literary world second to none in the coun- 
try, Georgia will ever have the honor of found- 
ing the first college for ladies in the United 
States. This institution is located at Macon, a 
fine flourishing town, about eighty miles North 
of Savannah. Its principal building is a large 
brick edifice erected at a great expense by the 
the Methodist denomination, which is the most 
wealthy and popular religious sect in the South- 



204 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 



ern States. In this institution ladies furnish 
their own apartments and change rooms as 
they advance in their classes from year to year 
according to the usual college custom. 

The President and most of the professors of 
this college were, when I was in Georgia, gen- 
tlemen from the North. From personal ac- 
quaintance with ladies from this institution, I 
am prepared to give it as my opinion, that in 
point of literary excellence and all those privi- 
leges calculated to raise the standard of female 
education far above its ordinary level, Macon 
Female College stands the highest in our coun- 
try excepting the Oberlin College in Ohio. To 
this institution as far as advantages for extensive 
female education are concerned, although it has 
many faults, I must give the pre-eminence to all 
others in our country, till institutions shall arise, 
which I trust all the friends of female education 
hope soon to see, that will take a stand upon a 
platform far higher and broader and more liberal 
than Oberlin has ever done. When such is the 
case, then may the females of our country, thou- 
sands of whom are now crushed by hard service in 
kitchens and workshops, or wearing out their lives 
at the looms and spindles of our manufacturing 
establishments, look up with joy and gratitude, 
for the day of " their redemption drawethnigh." 



LETTER XXVI. 
The sand-hillers, their habits, poverty and ignorance. 

Although praise-worthy attempts have been 
made in various parts of Georgia, to diffuse the 
means of education more extensively than was 
formerly thought necessary, still there is a' class 
of people in that State, as also in the Carolinas, 
who have never been benefitted by any of these 
privileges ; and these individuals, though de- 
graded and ignorant as the slaves, are, by their 
little fairer complexions entitled to all the priv- 
ileges of legal suffrage. These people are known 
at the South by such names as crackers, clay- 
eaters, and sand-hillers. I have previously 
mentioned the circumstance from which they 
derived the appellation of crackers. They are 
called clay-eaters, because all this class of 
people, from the oldest to little children, are as 
much addicted to the eating of clay as some 
communities are to the use of tobacco and 
snuff. This senseless habit is indulged in to 
such an extent, that when a person has once 



206 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

seen a clay-eater, he can, ever after, instantly 
recognize any one of their number by their 
sickly, sallow, and most unnatural complexions, 
let them be seen in never so large a crowd. 
Children, by the time they are ten or twelve 
years of age, begin to look old, their counte- 
nances are stupid and heavy and they often be- 
come dropsical and loathsome to the sight. 
Those who survive this practice thirty or forty 
years, look very wrinkled and withered, their 
flesh shrunken to their bones like that of very 
aged people. They are also called sand-hillers 
from the grounds they usually occupy, which 
are the barren and sandy districts of Georgia 
and South Carolina, to which these poor wretch- 
ed beings have been driven by the powerful and 
rich planters, who have wealth and avarice suf- 
ficient to secure to themselves all the best soil. 

This part of the population of Georgia and 
some of the contiguous States, are the lineal 
descendents of those paupers from England, 
whom Gen. Oglethorpe brought to this country 
and by whom Georgia was first settled. The 
same crushed spirit that will ever suffer one to 
accept of a home in an alms house, seems to 
have been transmitted down to the present pos- 
terity of these emigrants, and their situation 
has always been such, they never have had the 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 207 

power to acquire education or wealth sufficient 
to raise them above their original degradation or 
enable them to shake off that odium they have 
inherited from their pauper ancestry. They 
have no ambition to do any thing more than 
just what is necessary to procure food enough 
of the coarsest kind to supply the wants of the 
appetite, and a scanty wardrobe of a fabric they 
manufacture themselves. If they should ever 
cherish a desire for any other life than such as 
the brutes might lead, it would be all in vain, 
for the present institutions and state of society 
at the South are calculated to paralyze every 
energy of both body and mind. They are not 
treated with half the respect by the rich people 
that the slaves are, and even the slaves them- 
selves look upon them as their inferiors. I have 
seen the servants when one of these poor wo- 
men came into a planter's house, dressed in her 
homespun frock, bonnet and shawl, collect to- 
gether in an adjoining room or on the piazza 
and indulge in a fit of laughter and ridicule 
about her " cracker gown and bonnet," as they 
would call them. 

Slavery renders labor so disreputable, and 
wages of slave labor so low, that if places could 
be found where they might hire out to service, 
there would be but little inducement to do so. 



208 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 



Sometimes a young man who has a little more 
ambition than usually falls to the lot of his peo- 
ple, will succeed in obtaining a situation as over- 
seer on a plantation. As such an office is to 
them quite honorable, they will almost give their 
services for it. I knew one young man about 
the age of nineteen who took the entire charge 
of a large plantation, and even labored with his 
own hands in the time of preparing the cotton 
for market, for the paltry sum of fifty dollars 
per year besides his board. 

The sand-hillers usually cultivate a few acres 
of that barren land they are allowed to live 
upon, in the labor of which the females are 
obliged to take a part as well as the man. In 
this way they raise their corn, vegetables, and 
cotton, sufficient for domestic manufacture and 
sometimes a small quantity for market. When 
they do this, they can provide themselves with 
such luxuries as coffee, tea, sugar, etc., though 
besides coffee they seldom use any thing that 
is not the product of their own industry. 

While I was residing in the interior of Geor- 
gia, one of these women sent her little daughter 
for me on horseback to go and make her a visit. 
I returned with the child on the beast with 
her ; in the evening she carried me home in the 
same way. I found this woman living in a 






REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 209 

small log house, very neat, but there was noth- 
ing belonging to it, to which the term comfort- 
able could be applied. She had a bed, a table, 
two or three benches that were used instead of 
chairs and a very little crockery. The kitchen 
was a separate little building, of course scantily 
supplied with cooking utensils. The entertain- 
ment she prepared for me, while I sat with her 
in her little kitchen on a stool, consisted of cof- 
fee without sugar, fried bacon and corn bread 
mixed with water only. She had neither veg- 
etables, or butter, or any other condiment we 
consider essential to any repast. In the course 
of the afternoon she showed me a roll of 
cloth she had just taken from the loom, which 
she told me, was all the product of her own 
hard labor, commencing with the cotton seed. 
On inquiring if she could not purchase cloth 
much cheaper than she could manufacture it, 
she replied, " she could if her time was worth 
any thing, but there was no labor she could 
perform that would bring her any money." 

At that age when the youth of the North are 
confined at hard lessons for six hours a day 
from one season to another, these children are 
wasting the spring time of their lives, in the 
fields and woods, climbing trees, robbing bird's 
nests, or breaking up the haunts of squirrels, 



210 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

and engaged in every such kind of mischief? 
enough of which is always to be found for idle 
hands to do. These are the children and youth 
that the advantages of education which some 
enjoy at the South, have never yet reached, 
and probably never will, till some special effort 
is made in their behalf by missionary labor. 
As long as the present feeling between the rich 
and poor exists, they can never be brought to- 
gether into the same schools and if this could 
be effected it would not be expedient. I have 
seen the results of such an experiment in my 
own school. While I was teaching iu the north 
part of Georgia, I gave two little girls belong- 
ing to one of these poor families, their tuition 
for the purpose of encouraging them to come 
to school, but the neglect and scornful treat- 
ment they received from those who considered 
themselves their superiors, because they had 
wealthy parents and servants and could dress 
fashionably while they were obliged to wear 
their coarse homespun dresses, contributed to 
make them so miserable they could derive but 
little advantage from their instruction, and such 
will always be the case if attempts are made to 
bring them into the schools of the wealthy. 

Efforts have been made to persuade these pa- 
rents to put their sons to useful trades, but if 



REMINISCENCES OP GEORGIA. 211 

they do this they are obliged to labor in the 
shops with the slaves, and this being placed on 
a level with the colored people, they feel is a 
degradation they can not submit to, therefore 
they choose to bring up their sons to hunting 
and fishing. 

I have been thus particular in my account of 
these oppressed people, with the hope, that this 
little book may fall into the hands of some phil- 
anthropic person who may, in the hands of God, 
be instrumental in educating and elevating a 
class of people now surrounded by all the intel- 
lectual and religious priviliges of our boasted 
free and happy land, who might almost be 
termed heathen. 

Those who have been from early youth par- 
takers of all the blessings of the sanctuary and 
Sabbath schools, and day schools, and religious 
and scientific lectures, books, periodicals and 
papers of every name and description, can have 
but a faint conception of the darkness of that 
mind to which the door to all such mental disci- 
pline has ever been closed. If such minds are 
ever brought within the doors of the church, 
they are so illiterate, that to them the sermon 
they may hear is only an idle tale. As far as I 
have been able to learn, they universally believe 
in God and a crucified Redeemer, but their ideas 



212 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

of Him and the great plan of salvation are ex- 
tremely vague, like " the poor Indian," their un- 
tutored minds 

" See God in clouds, or hear Him in the winds." 
Having no instruction but that which nature 
affords, their minds become an easy prey to su- 
perstition in all its forms. The screeching of 
an owl or the barking of a hound at midnight 
are harbingers of some dire event. The tick- 
ing of the death-watch in the wall foretells the 
death of some friend, and the matron with her 
iron-bowed glasses can distinctly see in the in- 
verted coffee cup prosperity or adversity, a 
marriage or a funeral. To the benighted trav- 
eler, the barkless tree or innocent guide post, 
becomes a ghost in a winding sheet, and as a 
favorite poet says, 

" What at evening played along the swamp, 
Fantastic, clad in robe of fiery hue, 
He thought the devil in disguise, and fled 
With quivering heart and winged footsteps home." 

I can devise no other means by which these 
people can be properly educated and trained to 
all kinds of useful labor than, by sending in- 
dividuals among them with funds to erect in- 
stitutions, into which children and youth shall 
be collected, to remain for a certain number of 
years till they have been taught some useful 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 213 

trade and received sufficient instruction in the 
fundamental branches of education to render 
them useful members of society. 

Now will not some of those self-denying 
young men and women, who are contem- 
plating the life of missionaries in some foreign 
field of labor, just cast an eye over this broad 
vineyard, now already white for the harvest, 
before they decide that their mission calls them 
to California or Oregon, or the islands of the 
Pacific ? 

And does not the National Pppular Educa- 
tion Society hear the cry from the South, " come 
down and help us," while it is gathering its 
hundreds of teachers from among the rocks and 
hills of New England, for the great valley of 
the Mississippi, Texas and the Rocky Moun- 
tains ? 



LETTER XXVII. 

The residence of an aged matron — Affection and fidelity of 
her servants. 

I will not trouble my youthful friends with but 
one more account of one of those enchanting 
scenes it was my privilege to resort to, while in 
that part of Georgia where I never met but one 
individual with whom I ever had had a previous 
acquaintance. This was one of those hospitable 
and precious homes God always provides for his 
dear children, when He has seen it good in his 
wise providence, to remove them far away from 
that consecrated spot the fond heart loves to call 
home, and with which every tree which once 
formed a shelter for a play-ground, every shrub 
where was found a brood of young birds, every 
clear stream wherever was caught the tiny fishes 
with a pin-hook, every grassy mound where 
sported the snow-white lambs in childhood's 
liappy hours, must ever remain imprinted upon 
the tablets of the heart among the names of its 
earliest friends. 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 215 

This spot to which I always fled as a refuge 
from home-sickness and discontent and every 
such evil was the residence of an aged lady from 
whom God had removed her husband and all 
her children, and for years she had lived almost 
in solitude in this lone retreat, surrounded only 
by her slaves. 

This residence, more secluded than any one 
I have ever described to you, was situated at the 
distance of six miles from the highway. Be- 
tween the public road and this house was noth- 
ing but a dense forest, through which to have 
access to the plantation an intricate path just 
wide enough for a carriage to pass was kept 
open by frequently clearing away the under- 
w r ood and fallen limbs and renewing the marks 
on the trees as soon as they had become erased. 
Trees marked in this way are said to be blazed, 
and this is the usual way of laying out roads 
and commencing the foundation of cities at the 
South. In that country one often hears the 
remark made, " that it takes only a few blazed 
trees to make a city." 

I was introduced to this good old lady by a 
company of young people who occasionally vis- 
ited her, and wished much to have me enjoy 
the privilege with them. The day preceding 
the one that had been appointed to go and see 



216 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA, 



her, a message was sent respecting the contem- 
plated visit and she was prepared to welcome 
us at the gate with the cordial salutation, " The 
Lord bless these dear children for remembering 
an old woman in her solitude." 

Unlike plantations hi general, all the cleared 
land belonging to this, excepting about twenty 
acres, was concealed from the sight, by a 
piece of heavy wood land that complete- 
ly surrounded the buildings, and these few 
acres that were occupied by yards, gardens, 
orchards and vegetable-patches of various kinds. 
It was truly one of the loveliest little spots I 
ever visited, and I gladly accepted the invitation 
I received that day to make il my home as long 
and whenever I chose. After this I went fre- 
quently to see Mrs. A., and often spent the night. 
I found her a devoted Christian, and was happy 
to learn that the result of Christian example 
and kind treatment, was to make the most 
docile and faithful servants. They appeared to 
take the same interest and pleasure in contrib- 
uting to the comfort of their old mistress, that 
children would cherish towards an aged mother. 
She trusted in them as parents would in chil- 
dren in whom they had implicit confidence. 
They took the charge of the plantation, and 
carried to market the cotton and the other 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 217 

products, and attended to the sale of them, and 
made all the purchases for the whole plantation, 
and all the slaves looked so happy and content- 
ed, and were so well clothed and fed that even 
slavery there seemed to wear some pleasant 
features. 

The last time I visited Mrs. A., I went with 
a s'ck friend, who I trust is now waiting to wel- 
cjme my aged friend and myself to that bright 
world, to whose joys earth's elysiums are scarce- 
lv :;'uie to give the faintest prelude. At this 
time we found her sitting by a window that 
looked into the court-yard, with a large family 
Bible spread open before her, on a little stand, 
from which she raised her eyes as a servant ush- 
ered us into the room, with her accustomed sal- 
utation, " The Lord bless you." 

This was one of the most beautiful afternoons 
in May, which at the South is always the most 
pleasant month in the year. Trees aud shrubs 
had on their foliage of the freshest green. Al- 
theas and pomegranates never looked more 
beautiful, and jessamines and rose-trees never 
sent forth a more delicious fragrance. No place 
of residence was ever more quiet than this, as 
it was so far in the woods and removed at 
such a distance from that part of the plantation 
where the slaves labored. This afternoon it 



218 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

seemed to me like a second Eden. The few 
servants that waited on their mistress were all 
in their own little apartments quietly at work. 

The dogs and goats were taking their siestas 
in the court-yard, and scores of white chickens 
and cooing doves, had gathered among the 
branches of the trees above them. Here no 
unpleasant sounds fell upon the ear to interrupt 
the harmony of those sweet songs that were 
poured forth in such endless variety from the 
neighboring trees it would almost seem as if all 
the birds had collected in this little paradise 
below to give those who resided there, a fore- 
taste of the everlasting songs of the paradise 
above. Here, surely, " the animals as once in 
Eden lived in peace." 

In the course of the afternoon, our friend 
gave us an account of those afflictive dispensa- 
tions which had made her so desolate, but at 
the same time she acknowledged the goodness 
of God in giving her the kindest and most faith- 
ful of servants. She appeared to look forward 
to the rest that " remaineth for the people of 
God," with all the joy of one anticipating a 
speedy return to the friends and youthful scenes 
of an earthly home after a long absence. With 
saints of old she " confessed she was a stranger 
and pilgrim on the earth and that she desired a 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 219 

better country, that is an heavenly " one. This 
last interview and the parting words of this 
good friend who many times made me welcome 
and happy in her quiet home, will never be for- 
gotten, and often now in the silence of my own 
chamber do I recall those scenes with longing 
desires to live them all over again. 



LETTER XXVIII. 

A large plantation— Cause of an unhealthy atmosphere — Cat- 
tle, swine and sheep — Driving of oxen by Southerners — 
Shops of various kinds — Ploughing of the land by men and 
women — Sports of the slaves — A quilting party — Marriages 
and funerals — A nursery for colored children. 

For a few months while in Georgia, I resided 
on one of the largest plantations of Burke Co.; 
this circumstance furnished me with an oppor- 
tunity to become acquainted with all the domes- 
tic customs of one of these extensive families, and 
as the same system of arrangements I saw here, 
as far as I am personally acquainted and have 
been able to learn from others, are to be found 
on all large and well-conducted plantations in 
the Southern States, I hope my readers will 
not find this letter I am about to write to them 
this morning altogether unprofitable. 

This County, as I have been told, has more 
wealth, larger plantations, and richer soil than 
any other in Georgia. But at the same time, 
according to the laws of nature which have so 
provided for every country that where there are 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 221 

great local advantages to be enjoyed there are 
also great evils to be endured, this is also the 
most unhealthy county in all the State, and is 
universally known at the South by the appella- 
tion of the " Grave Yard of Georgia." 

The rich soil and impure atmosphere of this 
part of the country, are both attributable to the 
same cause ; its low swampy grounds, acres, of 
which previous to cultivation were covered with 
stagnant pools of water. 

The lands are prepared for cultivation by 
digging deep ditches through them in various 
directions. I have frequently seen excavations 
of this kind sufficiently deep when filled with 
water to float a good sized sloop. This kind of 
labor furnished employment for a great many 
Irishmen, who have already learned in their 
own " green isle," the art of draining low wet 
lands. At first this work is attended by a great 
outlay of funds yet it requires but a few seasons 
after these fields have been brought under culti- 
vation to restore to the pocket of the landholder 
not only the sum that was originally expended 
upon them, but also a liberal interest. 

The plantation which furnishes the subject 
of this letter, consisted of forty-nine square 
miles of land. My readers will at once see that 
this one plantation extended over an area, equal 



222 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

if not larger than many of our New England 
towns. Several of its fields contained no less 
than from two to four hundred acres each, still, 
a large proportion of the whole remained a for- 
est, and was only occupied as a range for large 
herds of swine and cattle, and numerous flocks 
of sheep and goats, the latter being raised solely 
for the flesh of the kids, which is considered in 
that country as an article of diet far preferable 
to that of lambs. 

Although the raising of sheep for their fleeces, 
as a general thing, at the South, is not consid- 
ered a very lucrative kind of business, still many 
plantations in the more northerly part of Geor- 
gia, realize quite an income from this source. 
The expense and care attending the raising of 
sheep at the South is far less than it is with us, as 
they are turned into the woods and seldom re- 
quire any other attention than what is bestowed 
upon them at the time of shearing their fleeces, 
but at the same time the wool raised at the South 
will never command so high a price by several 
cents per pound, as the same article does when 
produced in a cold country, for in hot climates 
it will always be coarse and hairy, and conse- 
quently unfit for any soft, delicate fabric, yet 
the Southern wool furnished a strong, coarse 
material quite valuable for the manufacture of 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 223 

carpets and other kinds of heavy cloth, for 
which it is always used. 

As it respects the swine, I believe the people 
of the South would not think they could subsist 
without their flesh ; bacon, instead of bread, 
seems to be their staff of )ife, Consequently, 
you see bacon upon a Southern table, three 
times a day, either boiled or fried. This custom 
of course demands the slaughter of a great num- 
ber of these animals on every plantation during 
the year. On the one of which I am speaking 
in this communication, daring tlje Fall I was 
there, one hundred passed under the butcher's 
knife at one time, and all for home consumption. 
I will leave my New England friends, who 
well know what a disturbance the butchering of 
one of those noisy creatures creates with us, to 
judge what a scene would be occasioned by the 
collecting together and massacre of one hundred 
at a time. 

Pork at the South is never to my knowledge, 
salted and barreled as it is with us, but flitches 
as well as hams are hung up without being 
divided, in a house built for that purpose, and 
preserved in a smoke that is kept up night and 
day through the year. 

Cattle in the Southern States are raised for 
those purposes to which the milk, flesh, skins 



224 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

and horns, could be appropriated, but seldom 
as beasts of burden. The Southerner knows 
nothing about the Northern manner of training 
steers for labor. It is one of the most comical 
sights in the world to see a slave trying to drive 
a yoke of oxen in the manner they always do 
when they attempt any thing of the kind. 
When oxen are to be used as beasts of burden, 
they are chased and caught in the woods like 
wild animals, then half frightened to death, 
yoked together in pairs, and fastened to a cart ; 
the driver either mounted on their backs, or 
standing in the vehicle behind them, attempts 
to urge them forward by a whip and guide them 
by the ropes he had previously fastened to their 
horns. Of course, the poor brutes know noth- 
ing about what such things mean, and while 
their eyes indicate that they are almost frantic 
with terror and rage, they shake and toss their 
heads first one way, then another, hook and 
crowd and then pull in opposite directions, and 
as any one would readily imagine, take all 
courses excepting a straight-forward one. 

But I fear you will think I have digressed 
very far from the design of my letter as pro- 
posed at its commencement, therefore I will try 
to retrace my steps a little, and say that this 
plantation which was a township of itself, had 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 225 

within its own borders so many resources of 
convenience, that setting aside those things that 
can only be termed the luxuries of life, it could be 
quite independent of any foreign aid or article of 
merchandize. It had its own mills and shops of 
various kinds, its milliners and mantuamakers, 
tailors and barbers, and its cards, looms and 
spindles, and every article for the table, which 
was always furnished luxuriously, was usually 
the product of home industry, excepting tea, 
coffee, and the spices. 

Teachers in the languages, music and the 
other sciences, received good salaries, and while 
I was there, the master of this plantation, anx- 
ious to live independent of all the world, was 
endeavoring to make such arrangements that 
he could have his own church and chaplain. 
On some plantations this is always customary. 
Often the preacher on the Sabbath is the family 
teacher during the week. 

On most plantations it is customary to meas- 
ure out to the slaves weekly a certain quantity 
of grain, potatoes, meat, etc., and let every one 
do their own cooking, but on this, a plan had 
been adopted, much more economical to the 
master, and convenient for the servant. Instead 
of each person being obliged to spend a por- 
tion of each day in the preparation of their own 



226 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

food, it was the business of a few to cook for 
the whole and call all the slaves together at reg- 
ular hours to take their meals. The first thing in 
the morning about four o'clock, every living 
creature on the whole plantation is aroused 
from its slumbers by the blowing of trumpets 
which is invariably and almost simultaneously 
answered by the cackling of fowls, the barking 
of dogs, and braying of mules. In a few mo- 
ments, the slaves are collected together, and 
receive their orders for the day from the over- 
seer- They then go to the field and labor till 
nine o'clock, when the trumpet sounds again to 
call them to their breakfast. At two o'clock ? 
P. M., they are called up to dine; they take 
their suppers late in the evening after the day's 
labors are all completed. During the season of 
ploughing, the scene that is acted six times a 
day by the servants with their mules going and 
returning from the field, is extremely amusing 
and novel to a stranger, and appears to be 
attended by a great deal of jollity among the 
actors themselves. At the time to which I am 
alluding, there were fifty ploughs running every 
day : there were one hundred ploughs belong- 
ing to the plantation, one-half of which in 
ploughing-time, were always kept in the field, 
the other half in the blacksmith's shop which 



REMINISCENCES OP GEORGIA. 



227 



belonged also to the plantation. As soon as 
one set had become dull, they were returned to 
the shop, and exchanged for those that had just 
been undergoing repairs. These ploughs are 
light, and are always drawn by one mule and 
held by one man or woman, who at the same 
time guides the beast by leading lines that are 
fastened to their own persons. In those large 
fields of which I have previously spoken, thirty 
and forty men and women promiscuously run 
their ploughs side by side, and day after day, 
till the colter has passed over the whole, and as 
far as I was able to learn, the part the women 
sustained in this masculine employment, was 
quite as efficient as that of the more ath- 
letic sex. In the harnessing and unharness- 
ing of the mules and in the distribution of 
the provender among them when they returned 
from the field, I always observed that the females 
displayed.the most agility, and usually completed 
their tasks first. Every man and woman has the 
entire charge of the beast they drive before the 
plough, and there is not a little ambition excited 
among them to see who shall have the finest 
looking and most spirited animals, and they 
usually test their fleetness by running races 
with each other, in going and returning from 
the scene of their labors, which they always do 



223 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

on the back of their mules. I have been an 
eye-witness of these sports a great many times, 
and have generally had the gratification of see- 
ing the women go a little ahead of the men. 

The overseer on this plantation was an ac- 
tive, intelligent colored man, very gentlemanly 
in his deportment and much respected by the 
white people and beloved by the slaves. Al- 
though he was himself a slave, he lived in good 
style in a framed and well furnished house close 
to his master's door, who treated his favorite 
slave more like a companion than a menial, and 
always consulted him upon business matters of 
much importance. I have often overheard 
their conversations together, and as far as that 
was concerned, there was such an equality and 
frankness, and friendliness in expression be- 
tween them, I never should have for once sup- 
posed that one was a master and the other a 
slave. His master told me that since he had 
made this man his superintendent, he had had 
more peace and order upon his plantation and 
much more work done than when he employed 
white men for that purpose, that the slaves were 
treated better and consequently were happier and 
more contented with their lot. This overseer so 
arranged the work upon the plantation that the 
slaves not only had considerable leisure to cul- 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 229 

iivate a few acres of land for themselves, but 
also their seasons for pastimes. All the cotton, 
vegetables, and poultry the slaves could raise 
for themselves, their master always purchased 
from them at the market price. They kept 
their own accounts and their master settled 
with them annually, as he would with stran- 
gers, and paid in cash for all he had purchased of 
them during the year. I was in his family at 
the time of one of these settlements and he said 
he had paid some of them seventy and eighty 
dollars for their produce, and he doubted not 
they would expend it all in tobacco and whis- 
key. 

The slaves upon this plantation had their hol- 
idays and seasons for frolics as frequently as any 
one could think was reasonable, and occasion- 
ally their entertainments, the provisions of 
which were furnished at the expense of their 
master. Such privileges as these are seldom en- 
joyed by the Southern slaves ; in this instance 
they were always the rewards of good beha- 
vior, and their indulgent, yet calculating master 
was wise enough to see that nothing so speedily 
tended to make faithful and affectionate servants 
as such a course of treatment. While I was on 
this plantation, the overseer's wife made a quilt- 
ing at which she invited the field slaves, both 



230 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

men and women. It may seem strange to my 
readers to hear of men being invited to a quilt- 
ing but I can say to them, that among the 
Southern field hands, the women can hoe as 
well as the men, and the men can sew as well 
as the women, and they engage in all depart- 
ments of labor according to the necessity of the 
case without regard to sex. This quilting party 
was held in the night, the first part of which 
was devoted to work on the quilt, the latter part 
to festivity and dancing. Caroline, the over- 
seer's wife was one of my best friends on this 
plantation, and from her I had learned the mi- 
nutiae of the preparations for^ this scene, and 
when her guests had all assembled and w T ere 
seated around the quilt, she sent for me to go 
and see them at the work. It was most as- 
suredly an amusing sight ; the men and women 
were seated promiscuously around the frame, 
very quietly yet as expeditiously plying the 
needle to all sorts of lines, both crooked and 
straight, as if their lives depended upon having 
ihe quilt out before midnight, but in justice to 
them I must say that there was a good deal 
more order and less talk among them about 
their neighbors than is usually observed at par- 
ties of the same kind that I have many times 
attended in the " Yankee land." But oh ! what 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 231 

quilting ; it was, however, executed very much 
as one would suppose it would be by hands 
much more accustomed to wield the spade 
and shovel than the cambric needle. They 
quilted with darning needles and traced their 
designs with charcoal, and I can assure you, 
those athletic fingers drew no microscopic 
lines, but every one of them exhibited a 
width and distinctness worthy of a heavy 
hand. 

The entertainment Caroline served up for her 
company, with the permission from her master 
to provide just what she pleased, was well cal- 
culated to tempt the appetite of the most fastid- 
ious epicure. Pastry of various kinds and frost- 
ed cake that would rival any thing of the kind 
coming from the confectioner's oven, tea and 
coffee that a Frenchman might consider it a lux- 
ury to sip, and fowls and ham, and other meat 
most deliciously prepared, all together contribu- 
ted to make up a feast that any ambitious land- 
lady might be proud of. 

Weddings and funerals among the slaves, as 
far as I know, are always conducted in the night 
As a general thing the marriage ceremony is 
but a little regarded among the slaves, but there 
are instances when the favorite slave of a wealthy 
master is honored with as extensive prepa- 



232 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGM. 

rations for a wedding as an own daughter might 
expect from her parents. 

But it was always a melancholy thought to 
me that after a life of hard toil, no other hours 
but those of darkness could be allowed for the 
poor slave to be returned to his kindred dust. 
When a slave dies, the friends and companions 
of the deceased assemble together on the night 
of the same day on which the death occurred, 
and for an hour or two they sing and pray, and 
weep and wail for the departed. Then the body 
is taken up and carried to the grave. On a stay- 
less night the gloomy path of the mourners is 
lighted by pitch-pine torches, which every one 
forming the funeral procession holds a little 
above his head. But the body of the poor slave 
that is now so little heeded and cared for, when 
it can no longer minister to the pleasure of its 
master, and is now hurried to its long home 
amid the darkness of the evening, is destined 
ere long to rise in a new and glorious form in 
the brightness of the morning, and though all 
that remains of this once afflicted and crushed 
body is soon mingled with its native soil and 
forgotten by every thing earthly, "yet our Fa- 
ther's care shall keep this little dust, 

"Till the last angel rise and break 
The long and dreary sleep." 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 233 

111 a previous letter I spoke of the packing of 
cotton by hand labor. When I wrote that arti- 
cle I had never seen it put up for market in any- 
other way, but since that, I have made a second 
tour to the South, and have learned that this 
method has now given place to the machine, 
which greatly facilitates the process and com- 
presses the same amount of cotton into a much 
smaller compass. The machine will press into 
a sack one yard and a half long, three quarters 
of a yard wide and the same in depth, from 
four to five hundred pounds. 

Tales are often circulated at the North about 
the infant children of slaves being left unpro- 
tected in the field while the mother is obliged to 
continue at her task. All the time I was at the 
South, I never saw or heard of any such inci- 
dent, and as I believe such statements are false, 
and know them to be altogether inconsistent 
with the solicitude the slaveholder always evin- 
ces with respect to this kind of property, I 
thought I would in this letter speak of the man- 
ner in which the young children are provided 
for in their mother's absence. On all plan- 
tations of much extent there are always nur- 
series where all the children from infants a 
week old, up to ages of four or five are cradled 
and nuned as well as the aged women to whose 



234 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

care they are entrusted while their mothers are 
in the field, are capable of doing. But even then 
it seems cruel that a mother can not see her 
little nursling oftener than three times a day, 
and then for only a few hasty moments, and I 
doubt not from the cries I have heard from those 
nurseries, that those helpless little ones often 
suffer from want of that nourishment nature has 
provided for infancy. 

The situation of those who have the charge 
of these houses demands as much if not more 
commiseration than that of the children them- 
selves. 

The individuals to whom such a task is con- 
signed, is generally those women whose great 
age incapacitates them for any other labor. It 
is no small task for two or three of these fe- 
males, themselves in a second infancy, to rock 
the cradles and attend to the wants of twenty 
or thirty young children. 

Bat slavery in its best form is nothing more 
nor less than a cruel bondage of which any 
country ought to be ashamed, much more one 
that makes such loud boasts of freedom as ours 
is always ready to trumpet far and wide. 



LETTER XXIX. 

A Southern Camp-meeting — Preparations for the same— Re* 
moval to the camp ground — Scenes on the camp ground- 
Meeting for the colored people. 

Nothing would give me more pleasure than to 
furnish my readers with a full account of a 
Southern camp-meeting, if I coujd be assured it 
would afford them half the entertainment I have 
myself enjoyed from a scene so extremely novel, 

Those of my readers who have had the pleas- 
ure of minting with such congregations in the 
Northern country, may suppose I can present 
nothing new upon this subject, but if I fail of 
clothing this account with interest, it will certainly 
be owing to a defect in the descriptive powers of 
the writer, rather than to a want of what is in 
itself truly novel, amusing and exciting, for I 
can assure you, a Southern camp-meeting is 
very unlike any thing called by the same name at 
the North. 

To the country people in the Northern part 
of Georgia, the season of the annual camp-meet- 
ing furnishes a date, from which and before 



236 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

which, all the most important events of the 
whole year are reckoned. This convocation is 
to them, what the Thanksgiving day is to the 
New England people, and it occurs at about the 
same time of the year. By it, the time for the 
closing of the summer schools and commence- 
ment of the winter schools is regulated, and 
many business transactions refer to this time, 
and for months previous to an event of so much 
importance to all, every member in the family 
from the oldest to the youngest, anticipated an 
addition to his or her ward robe, and this is so 
well understood by the city merchants and mil- 
liners, they endeavor to make their arrange- 
ments, if possible to meet all the demands upon 
their stock of fancy and dry goodg, during this, 
as I have heard them say, their best harvest- 
time in all the year, and while Christians in an- 
ticipation of a glorious revival of religion, often 
recall to mind the most eloquent speakers of 
the past year, and ask who are expected to be, 
the coming season, the principal topics of con- 
versation among the young and gay will be, 
costly and elegant articles of dress, and who 
was the " belle" last year and who probably 
will be this ; and this rage for dress is not con- 
fined to the parlor and keeping rooms, but ex- 
tends with equal ardor to the kitchen and field, 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 237 

and you might hear the cook at the corn mill 
and women bending over the plough, each 
saying, she must have a new pair of shoes 
or a new frock, or a new handkerchief for her 
head. 

All past events are reckoned from the last 
camp-meeting. For instance, you will hear 
one woman say, " she has* had a bad cough ever 
since the camp meeting, such a person was taken 
sick with a fever soon after the camp-meet- 
ing, another died or was married so many 
months after the camp-meeting. 

The removal of planters from their summer 
to their winter residences occurs at this time, 
for the hospitable and generous planter of the 
South, on occasions such as I am now describ- 
ing, not only makes provision for the the enter- 
tainment of his own family and numerous rela- 
tions, but also for a large company of strangers; 
therefore he is obliged to take with him all those 
household conveniences that are indispensable 
to the comfort and good order of a well regula- 
ted family at home. Consequently they make 
their arrangements, in order to avoid the trouble 
of one extra move in the year, to go with all 
their goods and chattels from their summer 
homes to the camp ground, and from thence to 
their winter quarters. 

4 



238 REMINISCENES OF GEORGIA. 

The camp ground I visited was a beautiful 
square lot of forest land about one acre and a 
half in extent, laid out amid u native and gigan- 
tic growth of oaks several miles from any plan- 
tation. Upon one corner of this square stands 
the oldest church in the United States, and I be- 
lieve the only one, for the erection of which a 
grant was obtained from the king of England. 
This building accommodates the usual Sabbath- 
day congregation, but for all large assemblies, 
and the annual county meetings, another large 
building called the Tabernacle has been ereeted 
upon an opposite corner of the same square. 
This latter house of worship, in construction, 
more strikingly resembles the city market, 
which I have already described, than it does a 
church, as it consists merely of a roof of great 
extent every where supported by pillars stand- 
ing at regular distances from each other. 

On every side of the square, all- fronting the 
centre, the fathers of the principal families con- 
stituting these assemblies, have each their own 
family residence. These little habitations are 
built of logs, having a piazza in front, and their 
number is sufficient to enclose the entire square, 
while in the background are arranged all the out- 
houses belonging to each, such as the kitchens, 
stables for the horses, as also pens for the swine 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 239 

and folds for the herds and flocks, and coops for 
the chickens, all of which have been previously 
stalled for the coming slaughter; and I ought 
not to forget to mention in this connection, the 
kennels for the hounds and watch dogs, which 
are needed even more at such places than on 
the plantations, and which in many parts of 
Georgia and South Caroliua, constitute the only 
police of the place. 

But while such ample provision is made for 
the entertainment of those who assemble to- 
gether for a season of spiritual refreshment, ar- 
rangements are also made to supply the wants 
of those who congregate in the out skirts of 
this little village to drink whisky, smoke cigars, 
play cards and steal horses. For the accom- 
modation of this class of persons, a large framed 
saloon has been erected just a little beyond 
the church square, which was well furnished 
with all those things calculated to tempt the ap- 
petite, that one usually finds at resorts of the 
same kind in the city. I think I can truly say, 
I never saw a congregation of people, where 
the extremes from good to bad were so great 
as in this. It appeared to me that if it was ever 
true, that " when the sons of God assembled to- 
gether, Satan came also," it was in this instance, 
for while the fervent and incessant prayers of 



240 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

the righteous ascended on high like holy incense 
from within the camp, the curses and blasphe- 
mies that were poured forth from the throats of 
those who had encamped round about this place 
of prayer and praise, were sufficient to induce 
one to conclude he must have fallen somewhere 
near the precincts of the infernal regions. 

For several days previous to the commence- 
ment of worship, persons from all quarters 
within the distance of fifteen or twenty miles, 
are busy in the transportation of all kinds of 
food and articles of furniture ; chairs, tables, 
beds and bedsteads, cradles for babies, and 
coops for chickens, all heaped upon cotton Jer- 
sey carts, together with scores of men-servants 
and women-servants accompanied by a large sup- 
ply of the canine race equally as well pleased 
as their masters with every thing new and 
exciting, all on the move to the same spot, com- 
posed a scene that was to me amusing beyond 
expression, and very forcibly recalled to my 
mind a little couplet associated with my early 
school days, which probably some of you will 
recollect having seen in Adams' old Arithmetic : 
" Kits, cats, sacks and wives, 
How many were going to St. Ives 1" 

But after every article of household furniture 
is arranged in its proper place, as the sailor 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 241 

would say, in " sea trim" and every thing re- 
duced to order and quiet, the whole scene with- 
in the camp-ground assumes an aspect not only 
imposing but beautiful and romantic in the ex- 
treme, and particularly so in the evening and 
during the intervals of worship, when hundreds 
of young and joyous people, richly and gaily 
dressed, could be seen moving in all directions, 
or standing in small groups beneath the shade of 
some wide spreading tree, in this little city of 
oaks, as it might justly be called ; for when the 
ground was prepared for the purpose for which 
it is now used, a sufficient number of the native 
forest trees were left standing to form a com- 
plete shade for the whole area. And now the 
branches from one tree to another have become 
so interwoven and the foliage so thick an3 heavy 
the sun's rays hardly ever reach the ground, 
but the same dark and green shade which ren- 
ders this little spot so delightfully cool and re- 
freshing during a hot summer's day, would also 
prevent those who spent the night there, from 
ever enjoying a moonlight evening, therefore to 
compensate for this apparent loss of the moon, 
every man has erected in front of his own 
house a platform about six feet from the ground 
and four or five feet square, upon which is laid 
earth to the depth of about one foot, for the 



242 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

purpose of making a foundation for a fire, whick 
is lighted every evening as soon as the stars be- 
gin to appear. This light is kept burning till 
towards midnight by a constant supply of pitch 
wood furnished by boys whose business it is to 
see that the whole camp-ground is sufficiently 
lighted during the convocation. These great 
fires at this elevation sent forth such a broad 
and brilliant sheet of light in all directions, that 
those who seated themselves in front of their 
dwellings could read with perfect ease without 
the aid of any other light, and while millions 
of sparks emitted from the burning fagots were 
carried up amid wreaths of curling smoke and 
lost among the thick boughs of the trees. The 
older members of the families would seat them- 
selves beneath the piazzas to witness the past- 
times of the children, all collected together to 
vie with each other in the dexterity of trun- 
dling the hoop, throwing the ball, jumping the 
rope or running races, in all of which sports the 
dogs sustained a part by no means the least con- 
spicuous, with caninish glee running to pick up 
the fallen hoop, bringing back the ball that had 
bounded too far, and in the race, often outstrip- 
ping all the children. 

But how I regret that a want of descriptive 
talent must prevent me from giving you a full 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 243 

and complete idea of a scene so rich and beau- 
tiful, the best that I can do, it will fall far short 
of the reality and I must submit to this meagre 
description of a scene I now contemplate with 
interest and pleasure. The first thing in the 
morning, just as the sun is rising, this sleeping 
congregation is aroused from its slumbers by 
several loud and long blasts from a hunting 
trumpet, to attend early prayers, consequently 
with a slight attention to the toilet, the mem- 
bers of each family are soon collected together 
for worship. I shall never forget the impres- 
sion made upon my mind, the first time I ever 
had the pleasure of being present at one of these 
scenes. The master of the family in which I 
was most hospitably entertained for several days 
was a young man of about the age of twenty- 
six or eight, yet he presided over one of these 
extensive household establishments with all that 
ease and dignity becoming a patriarch of three 
score and ten. On that morning to which I 
have just alluded when for the first time I con- 
stituted one member of his family, now greatly 
increased by a large number of strangers, as 
soon as we were assembled he arose and in a 
sweet, clear and strong voice, sung, 

" A charge to keep I have, 
A God to glorify," &c. 






244 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

We were assembled in that part of the house 
called the " dining hall," the front of which 
was all open to the public view, and as all 
the other families were similarly situated, the 
songs of praise which went up from each could 
be distinctly heard by all the rest, as they re- 
bounded that morning through every part of 
the camp-ground. I never expect to enjoy an- 
other scene like this beneath the skies, but in 
the language of the poet I could sincerely say, 

" My willing soul would stay, 
In such a scene as this." 

During the meetings we had usually four ser- 
mons in the day from different speakers, the 
first in the morning at eight o'clock, then at 
eleven, one and four in the afternoon. As the 
most commanding eloquence of the Southern 
pulpits is collected on such occasions, one would 
not fail of having at least, an intellectual feast 
if not a spiritual one. 

Before closing this letter, I will just notice an 
assembly of the colored people, who are during 
these meetings exempt from all labor, excepting 
what is connected with their masters' establish- 
ments. A good many of the servants, especial- 
ly the females, prefer to go to the Tabernacle to 
meeting with their masters' families, but as 
there are hundreds more who want that free- 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 245 

dom in speaking, singing, shouting and praying, 
they could not enjoy in the presence of their 
masters, efforts were made to accommodate 
them at an out-of-hearing distance, as any one 
would suppose from the white congregation, but 
after all, the sound of " glory to God," shouted 
from the top of a strong sonorous voice on a 
still evening, would often fall upon the ears of 
those seated on the camp-ground. The minis- 
ters in their turn went down to preach for the 
colored people, and they frequently returned 
with the tale that there, they h%d had the most 
interesting meetings. Now I will close this let- 
ter by saying, I can never recall the scenes con- 
nected with a Southern camp-meeting, but with 
emotions of the deepest interest and pleasure, 
and when with a retrospective glance of the 
mind's eye, I review scenes such as I have de- 
scribed in these letters, my soul invariably thirsts 
for a return to Southern life. 



LETTER XXX. 
Conclusion. 

Before I close these letters, I will observe, that 
if I had allowed a predilection for Southern life 
to have influenced my pen, I should have with- 
held every incident that would in the least be 
calculated to militate against the character, 
manners, or institutions of the South, but I have 
laid aside as far as I was able all my own indi- 
vidual prejudices, and endeavored honestly to 
present things in a true light, sometimes exhib- 
iting the light side of the picture, then again 
the dark side, and that too, by showing the state 
of my own feelings under different circumstan- 
ces, as for instance, my readers could not help 
seeing I was unhappy when I saw the Sabbath 
spent as I have described, when I was in the 
Southern part of # Georgia, then again, when I 
was in an other section of the country and un- 
der other circumstances, I enjoyed the camp- 
meeting, and if my Southern friends should be 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 247 

disposed to think I have been too severe, I 
would say to them, if I were to give an ac- 
count of the manners and customs of any 
place wherever I have visited at the North, I 
could draw one side of a picture with many 
shadows. 

I would not be so illiberal as to wish to ex- 
pose the mote in your eye while a beam is in 
ours, but while I regret the oppression that ex- 
ists at the South, I can only wish for that place, 
with which many of the fondest recollections 
of my life are associated, that the morning of 
that day will ere long dawn upon her, when her 
laws shall annul the right 

" To buy and sell, to barter, whip and hold 

In chains a being of celestial make, 

Of kindred form of kindred faculties, 

Of kindred feelings, passions, thoughts, desires, 

Born free, an heir of an immortal hope." 

But with all the faults of the South, I love 
her still, her sunny skies and forests ever green, 
her birds of song with voices sweet and plu- 
mage gay, are painted in indellible characters 
upon the tablets of my memory and often pre- 
sent themselves to my mind with all the fresh- 
ness and vividness of a pleasing dream when 
one awaketh, and if I did not hold in grateful 
remembrance a place where I have received so 



248 REMINISCENCES OP GEORGIA. 

many favors, my conscience must plead guilty 
for the sin of ingratitude, for I never received 
any other treatment while in the Southern 
country, but that of the utmost politeness and 
kindness, and I do not know how I can express 
the sentiments I now entertain for all my South- 
ern friends and acquaintances better than in the 
words of the valedictory I gave to the institu- 
tion with which I was last connected at the 
South just before I left to return home, and as 
the expressions of respect, gratitude and affec- 
tion which it contains are equally applicable to 
all the students and officers of the different in- 
stitutions in which I have taught in that coun- 
try, as well as to friends in general, I will re- 
peat the same to all my Southern friends who 
may happen to see this work. 

" As my labors in the A Female Sem- 
inary are now about to close, I deem it requi* 
site for me to address a few words to the pat- 
rons and members of the Institution before I 
leave, therefore I have chosen this time as the 
one most convenient and proper for this pur- 
pose, and it may not be unmeet for my friends 
and pupils to learn my feelings when about to 
bid adieu, and that perhaps forever, to a place 
that by many hallowed associations, has found 
a deep place in my affection.:. 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 249 

" Till within a few weeks I have considered 

A my home, but an overruling hand of 

Providence has recently caused me to change 
my purposes, and now seems to bid me return 
to my own country and people, and leave that 
situation which I have occupied for the few 
past months, to be filled by another who I 
trust will discharge the duties of one of the 
most responsible and difficult stations with 
no less acceptance to all than her predeces- 
sor. 

" In justice to the young ladies who have 
been committed to my care, and for the satis- 
faction of their parents and guardians, I will 
now say, that your lady-like deportment in 
school and the strong attachment you have 
universally manifested towards me, has not only 
won my highest respect for you but my most 
sincere affection. The interest the greater part 
of you have felt in your studies and the rapid 
progress you have made in the various sciences 
you have been pursuing, has been a source of 
extreme satisfaction to me, and I think we can 
all say we have enjoyed ourselves much in each 
others society, notwithstanding w r e have had 
many occasions for deep sorrow. Death has 
been permitted to make inroads upon one little 
number, and to some of us under the most af- 



250 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

flictive circumstances,* but in these trying 
hours we have shared each others sympathies 
and our tears have flowed together, but now 
we are about to separate, and though hundreds 
of miles shall intervene between us, I trust we 

* Within the short space of five months, while the 
writer of these letters was connected with this Institution 
she buried her husband, lost one pupil who died of a 
fever, after an illness of only a few hours ; another, a 
young lady of fifteen, in a most horrible manner by fire, 
and that too, in the school room in time of recess. As 
the day was rather cool for a Southern winter's day, this 
young lady with several of her companions had drawn 
around the stove for a few moments, which was an open 
one, and at the time had but a little fire in it. While 
standing there, earnestly engaged in conversation, her 
dress caught fire, and having on a great number of in- 
flammable garments, she was in a moment enveloped in 
such a flame it was out of human power to extinguish it 
before her flesh was burnt to a crisp. The muscles in 
her limbs were so contracted, she said to one standing by 
her bedside, " aunt, I shall never straighten these arms 
again." After she was removed from the spot, where she 
had been burnt, the entire skin of one hand, all in shape 
like a glove, with the nails upon each finger, and two 
rings upon the third finger, was picked up by one of the 
young ladies which was buried without informing the 
bereaved friends, of the painful circumstance. She sur- 
vived her first dreadful agonies but a few hours, then her 
soul, as we doubted not by her Christian life, took its 
flight to a better world, without a groan or struggle. 



REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 251 

shall ever maintain a strong place in each oth- 
ers' memories and affections, and if you would 
show your love for me when I am gone, let 
your deportment on all occasions be such, that 
no one shall have reason to reproach me, for hav- 
ing been remiss in my instruction to you, and now 
may God grant that if we are never permitted to 
meet again this side of the grave, we may at last 
all be united where separation is never known. 
To the Honorable Board of Trustees : — 

Sirs : — To a stranger as I was when I came 
among you, cast upon the mercies of those to 
whom no claim could be laid by any natural ties, 
for that friendship and protection which a lone 
female so much needs, nothing could be more 
acceptable than the tokens of kindness, which 
I have received at your hands since my lot has 
fallen among you, and nothing could have been 
more opportune, nor more gratefully received 
than was that recent testimonial of yours which 
so warmly expressed your approbation of my 
course in school, and reassured me of your firm 
and unshaken friendship, and now for this as 
well as for all other favors you have bestowed 
upon me, please accept my most cordial thanks. 

To my friends in general, I would say, that 
I hope I fully appreciate all your efforts to make 
my situation among you a pleasant one. That 



: 



252 REMINISCENCES OF GEORGIA. 

hospitality towards strangers, for which- th 
people of the Southern States are so distin 
guished has ever been shown to me. I have 
visited many of you and never failed of receiv- 
ing the most cordial welcome, and when afflic 
tion has nearly overwhelmed me, you have been 
ready to soothe my sorrows, and pour the balm 
of consolation into my wounded heart ; but 
though every kind look and word, and every 
token of affection I have received from you, 
are treasured up in a heart that can never 
forget them, yet the favors I value above all 
price are those which were bestowed upon him 
whose mortal remains I must leave when I go 
away, to slumber in your soil. 

It is with mingled emotions of pain and pleas- 
ure that I think of leaving a place that has be- 
come so dear to me. Year after year will pass 
away, and with them those who now know me 
here, and I shall be forgotten ; but while life 

remains, I cannot forget A , for with that 

name must forever be associated not only the 
most pleasant, but also the most painful remi- 
niscences of my life. 

Now with the desire that you may be abun- 
dantly rewarded for all your kindness to me, 
and that you in like circumstances will receive 
like favors, I will bid vou Adieu. 



H 96 89 



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1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 



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